Sonic Satam X: Episode 1
by Jonathan83X
Summary: After recovering his parents computer, Sonic and Sally soon discover a hidden secret from it, revealing long last family members of his. Can Sonic find them in time, or will Snively get there first and roboticize them?
1. Tails Coronation

Disclaimer: The Sonic characters in this fanfic are all copyrighted of Sega and DIC

This Series takes place after the FUS fan series comic, The Journal.

Chapter 1: Tails' Coronation

The following day after recovering the journal, the Freedom Fighters at Knothole gathered around for a special ceremony. Even though Tails had been assisting the team in the latest missions, he wasn't officially a full time member. But now he would be as Sally saw he was finally ready to do his part in the war against Snively.

She soon stood in front of the team and addressed them with the following:

"And so it is with great pleasure," Sally stated, beaming with pride, "I award Tails with this medal, for his heroic efforts from our last mission in the Great Swamp."

Tails then stepped forward as she placed around his neck and gave him her signature funny kiss on the nose, which of course made him blush inside.

Seconds later, Sally added amidst a round applause from their comrades, "From this point on, Tails is officially a full time Freedom Fighter."

Hearing this made the Knothole Freedom Fighters cheer even louder, as they too were happy to have him as part of the team.

"You mind saying something to your new comrades, Tails?" Sally suggested, looking at him intently.

"Aw, do I have to?" Tails inquired a slight whine.

"Well, just for a sec, honey." Sally replied softly. "Can you at least do that for us?"

Tails sighed and answered, "I suppose so."

The two tailed then took 2 steps forward nervously and said to the Freedom Fighters as boldly as he could, "Words cannot express my happiness to finally be part of your team. Today… I make you this pledge to you... I will work hard and do everything I can to help bring peace back to Mobius."

Again, the team cheered for 2 tailed fox and picked him on their shoulders, chanting 3 times, "Freedom."

To say the least, Tails was humbled, even slightly overwhelmed by their actions.

Even Sonic couldn't help but watch with a tear in his eye.

After they put him down a minute later, Sonic gave him a big hug and said with a big smile on his face, "Way to go, lil bro. You really made me proud today."

"Thanks, Sonic."

With the ceremony now officially over, Sonic said to Tails after everyone began to disband back to their huts, "Now, how bout we celebrate by hanging out at our special hangout spot?"

Tails flashed a big smile replying, "Neato. Let's go."

However before they could leave, Sally ran up to them.

"Where are you two going?"

"Just taking my best bud to our peaceful spot is all, Sal." Sonic explained, putting his arm around the two tailed fox.

"And where is that exactly, Sonic?" Sally inquired further

"Sorry, can't tell ya." The blue hedgehog answered with a wink "That's between me and T2 here."

Sally quickly groaned in frustration, muttering "Why do you have to keep secrets from me?"

"C'mon Sal," Sonic argued, with his hands at his waist while frowning, "What's the harm of me and Tails having our own lil private place?"

"Because if you run into trouble, Sonic," Sally replied firmly, "we wouldn't know where to find you."

"Hey, hey, I'm the fastest thing on Mobius, Sal." Sonic boasted, placing his right fist on his chest. "If there's any Swatbutts or anything like that nearby, We'll just juice outta there. No sweat."

Sally let out another sigh and said looking down at the ground, "I just don't this is a good idea, Sonic. I mean, Snively may not be as evil as Robotnik, but he's still a serious threat."

Sonic then put an arm on her shoulder and replied, "Relax, Sal. We'll be careful. Besides, I think Tails earned it today after all the hard work he's done for us, don't you think?"

Sally looked him in the eye with extreme reluctance and said, "I suppose so... Just please don't be reckless out there, Sonic. You may be incredibly fast, but you're not invincible."

"Trust me, I'll protect Tails with my life." Sonic stated firmly.

"You promise me that?" Sally interrogated, now looking him in the eye.

"Hedgehog's honor, Sal." Sonic answered, holding up his right hand to show the seriousness of his words.

Sally then gave Sonic a hug and said, "Ok then. I'm gonna hold you to that. Don't let me down."

"You can count on me, Sal."

Moments later, Sally hugged Tails tightly as well and said, "Have a good time, sweetie."

Before they left, Sonic asked Sally, "So what you gonna to be doing while we're gone?"

"Well, I'm going to be trying to see if Nicole was able to salvage any files from your parent's computer journal. It doesn't look good since that computer had a lot of corrosion from sitting for so long, but I'll give it my best shot nonetheless."

"Thanks, Sal. Later."

As Sonic and Tails rushed off, Sally watched them leave and slowly headed back to her hut.

Sally then thought on the way, _Ok, let's see what we have here. Hopefully they'll be some useful information we can use from that old computer against the Robotnik Empire._


	2. The Discovery

Chapter 2: The Discovery

Meanwhile at Robotropolis, Snively was brooding to himself in his lair.

"It's only been three days since I've taken over my Uncle's empire, and those rodents are still a huge thorn in my side as ever! Well, I guess I'm going to have come up with some better strategies than he did, or they'll eventually overthrow my rule as well…"

Snively then turned on his main monitors and scanned the area outside with his cameras. After seeing nothing, he pressed another button, which changed the picture on the monitor to a Swatbot

"Status Report!" he shouted immediately.

"Nothing to report, sir."

"Any sign of intruders?" Snively inquired further.

"None, sir."

"Are you sure about that?" Snively demanded.

"100%, sir." It answered back.

Snively then furrowed his brow and said while placing a hand under his chin, "Those Freedom Fighters will be back soon. I just know it. I had better start strategizing at once in order to get the upper hand."

Snively quickly got out of chair and walked around the facilities trying to come up with his next plan that would at the very least put a dent in their stronghold. Unfortunately at the moment, nothing was coming to mind. While he was not the master strategist his Uncle Julian was, his plan to use roboticized Mobians as decoys, even soldiers was a brilliant move nonetheless. Ironically though, it still wasn't enough to stop the Freedom Fighters. Sonic and the others again were able to outsmart his scheme and give him another humiliating defeat.

"Oh confound it, why does this have to be so hard?" Snively brooded out loud. "This is by far the worst part of being in charge, trying to come up with brilliant plans to defeat that miserable hedgehog! Ooh, how I hate him!

Two minutes later, the small dictator finally made it to one of the weapon developmental rooms.

Once there, he saw a scrapped machine on a table on the right that caught his eye, none other than his Uncle's Power Ring hedgehog homing device.

Snively then examined the machine and muttered with a frown, "Hmm… I remember this was one my Uncle Julian's better ideas. He was even able to slow him down somewhat for a short period of time."

However, the small dictator quickly remembered why the machine had been scrapped.

"A shame this machine only works correctly if you have a Power Ring as its energy source…" Snively commented, again furrowing his eyebrows while placing a hand under his chin to think. "It's too bad my Uncle wasn't smart enough to have it so it would home in on Sonic anytime he dared to try to run at supersonic speed. If it could have done that, we could have easily…"

Instantly, Snively's facial expressions changed from intrigue to a devilish smile, commenting with a commenting chuckle while rubbing his hands together, "I think I now know what to do in order to beat that rotten rodent at his own game."

He then grabbed a toolbox, stating while unscrewing some bolts from the hedgehog homing machine, "If this idea of mine goes as well as I hope it will, Sonic will never know what hit him. He and those filthy friends of his will be in for a world of hurt… Heh heh!"

5 hours later, Sonic and Tails returned to Knothole and walked into Sally's hut. When they opened the door, they saw her working with Nicole on the journal's files.

"Hey Sal, we're back." Sonic said, walking towards the right side of the chair she was sitting on.

"Well, it's about time." Sally commented a bit worried, giving a slight frown too. "It's past 7 pm."

"Yea, I know…" Sonic replied with a hesitant chuckle. "But… I wanted to give my best bud a special day to remember, so I kind of stayed a lil later than I had planned."

Tails then walked up next to her left side and told the Princess all about it.

"It was amazing, Aunt Sally. Sonic took for me a ride in his backpack while running with a power ring in hand. Then he showed me everything about the Great Unknown. It was way past cool. And to top it off, we relaxed at the hot springs and had a chili dog buffet."

"Wow, sounds like you had quite an adventure today..." Sally commented awkwardly.

"I sure did, Aunt Sally." Tails then hugged Sonic tightly and exclaimed happily, "Thanks for everything. This was one of the best days of my life!"

"Happy to do it, bro."

Sally soon looked at Tails and commented with a straight face, "Well… I'm glad you had a good time. Anyway, I need to talk with Sonic alone for a bit. Is that ok with you?"

"Oh ok, sure, no problem. Bunnie was going to train me on some Freedom Fighter drills anyway..."

Tails then hugged Sally tightly and quickly headed outside.

Before Sally could say a word, Sonic commented to her with a slight guilty expression on his face, "I suppose you're gonna reprimand me for where I took Tails today, aren't you?"

"Well, I thought about it, Sonic," Sally replied firmly, "but I'll let it go this time. I mean, you did give him a special day and all."

Sonic immediately let out a sigh of relief, as Sally quickly added, "Although, I do want to know one thing. Did you encounter any of Snively's forces while you were out?"

"Actually, no. To be honest, I was kind of hoping we would so I could really give Tails a thrilling day."

When Sally arched an eyebrow at him, Sonic retorted, "Hey, you know I love action. And besides, I did bring him back safely as promised. I told ya I wouldn't let you down."

Sally then stated reluctantly while looking away, "Yes, you did keep your word. Thank you for that, Sonic."

"Anytime, Sal."

Moments later, Sonic saw a concerned look on her face as she looked away. He then said to her putting an arm on her shoulder, "C'mon, I know he's like a son to you, but you gotta let him grow up sooner or later. I mean, after all, he is now a full time Freedom Fighter, right? How else is he gonna learn?"

Sally sighed heavily, answering with reluctance again, "Yea, I suppose you do have a point there…"

"Hey, I'm always right." Sonic retorted boldly.

"Ah, no." Sally shot back.

Before Sonic could answer her with another retort, she said to him, "Anyway, Nicole's almost finished with the process of salvaging your parent's computer journal files."

"Cool, how many were you able to save?"

"I don't know. Nicole will let me know me in a minute."

Sonic then tapped his foot and said, "We're waiting, Nicole."

Nicole then answered back in her monotone voice, "Do not get impatient, my main hedgehog. This is very difficult process since these files are over 10 years old."

Sally groaned and commented softly while placing a hand on her forehead, "I gotta remove that lingo from her vocabulary. It is really getting on my nerves now…"

45 seconds later, Nicole announced, "Process complete."

On the screen, it showed how many files were corrupt and how many were saved. Sadly, over 95% of the files were too far gone to save. Only five files were only able to be repaired to full working order.

"Doh, man. This stinks!" the blue hedgehog grumbled, slighting hitting the thigh of his right leg in frustration. "Just five? You gotta be kidding me!"

"Well, it's better than nothing, Sonic." Sally reiterated. "Let's take a look at them, shall we?"

"Yea, good idea."

Sally then stated to her super computer firmly, "Nicole, display the 5 salvageable files."

"Displaying, Sally."

Within seconds, Nicole showed the file names and what type they were.

"Hmm," Sally said, furrowing her forehead. "It appears to be 3 document files, one exe file, and one jpeg file."

"Hey, why is that file named Freedom Fighters anyway?"

"I don't know, Sonic. Let's take a look at the documents first. Nicole, display first document."

Instantly, Nicole displayed a visual on the wall. Sonic and Sally gasped as they saw the date. It was a journal file typed exactly one day before Dr. Robotnik took over Mobotropolis.

It read:

Dear Diary: Today is truly a day to celebrate. Finally, the Great War is over and now all of Mobius can be at peace. I feel a huge burden off my shoulders as now I can care for my three children and husband without the threat of being attacked. Tonight, I will make my family a special dinner to commemorate this occasion.

Sonic then commented confused. "Three? I thought I was an only child."

"Is it possible, Sonic, that you actually have siblings who were separated from us during Robotnik's invasion?"

"I don't know, Sal." Sonic replied, putting a hand under his chin to think. "The funny thing is, in the back of mind, I remember two other hedgehogs that we used to hang out with. I think they even lived with me if I recalled correctly."

Sonic then asked the squirrel Princess, "Do… you think that's who my Mother was referring to?"

"Well, maybe..." Sally answered hesitantly. "It's certainly a possibility."

"But, that doesn't make any sense…" Sonic said with furrowed eyebrows. "Rosie told me they were just friends."

Sonic again was in deep thought, as he soon inquired of Sally, "What's the rest of the document say?"

"Well, strangely the rest of it doesn't appear to be important." The squirrel princess replied. "it just mentions her day, and what she plans to do when she thought Mobius was finally free of war."

After Sonic read a little of it too, he agreed. "Yea, I see what you mean."

"Nicole, show the 2nd document." Sally instructed after a ten second pause.

After it was up, Sonic and Sally gasped again. This one was dated 2 days later.

It read:

Dear Diary, How could have things gone so wrong? Not even twelve hours after I thought it was over, Julian took us all by surprise and conquered Mobotropolis. I won't lie to you; I'm scared for my life and my family. What make this day even worse is the news of my brother in law, Charles, was roboticized hours ago, and is now a slave of Dr. Robotnik. The only comfort I have is the fact my son Sonic was taken to Knothole, along with the other children thanks to Rosie's heroic bravery during the attack. Sadly though, Sir Charles was forced to bring my other son and daughter back to our house after Robotnik's Swatbots attempted to take them prisoner. With it now under tight surveillance, it would be next to impossible for me to move them there without getting caught. The only thing I can do now is move them, along with me and my husband to our underground shelter we built during the Great War as a safety precaution. How ironic that it will soon become our home because I know it won't be too much longer before Robotnik and his forces find the location of our home near the Great Forest. Anyway, I must prepare dinner for now.

After the document was completely read, Sonic and Sally looked at each other in complete amazement.

"Sonic, those two hedgehogs from our childhood are really your brother and sister." Sally stated in a bit of shock. "This is really mind blowing…"

The blue hedgehog scratched his forehead and replied, "Yea, you're telling me… But, if they really are my siblings, why did Rosie lie to me about it then? I don't understand…"

Sally sadly too was dumbfounded by this, soon answering as well as she could, "Well, perhaps she didn't want you to worry yourself sick over their absence. I mean, with them being gone for over ten years, who knows what it might have done to you, or what you would have attempted to do to try and get them back."

Sonic ironically couldn't argue with that, as he soon inquired of his best childhood friend, "Sal, do you… think they're still out there?"

Sally pondered this question for over twenty five seconds, answering softly, "Well, it is possible I suppose…"

Before Sonic could answer back, Sally added somberly, "Although, there's a good chance they were roboticized at the same time as your parents were too."

When Sonic's face drooped in horror, Sally told him firmly, "Now we don't know that for sure. Don't think the worse just yet. Perhaps the last document might give us a clue to their location."

"Yea, good thinking…"

"Nicole, display the last document." Sally instructed after another brief pause.

When the document was finally on the screen, it was shown to be written exactly 2 weeks later from the previous entry.

It read:

Dear Diary: things just continue to get worse. Over 75% of the population is now roboticized. If that wasn't bad enough, we still haven't been able to escape to Knothole and be reunited with my dear son, Sonic. Thankfully though, I ran into Cyrus, a 21 yr old lion during one of my recent attempts to get in the Great Forest. He then told me about another shelter in the East. After talking with him for a bit, I sensed he could be trusted and handed Manic and Sonia over to him. But before I did, I made Cyrus swear he would keep them out of Julian's hands, no matter what. When he offered to take my husband and me along too, I declined. I wanted to try to get my brother in law of out of Robotropolis first. He told me it was suicidal and that it would more than likely get me roboticized. Nevertheless, I refused to be talked out of it. I couldn't just sit back and let that monster have his way with my Sir Charles. So, he instead handed me a plastic case and said, "If you must do this, then use my program on this disk." Cyrus explained to me it was a super virus he recently invented that would wreck havoc on any computer system. Not even newer computers would be able to withstand it. Since time was not our side, I thanked him for his help and hugged my children goodbye with tears in my eyes. It was the hardest thing letting them go, but I had no choice. I knew deep down I would not be able to keep them safe in our underground shelter near the Great Swamp for much longer.

Later that night, I talked with my husband about my daring plan to rescue his brother. At first, he was completely against it, but once I showed him the disk with the virus, he reluctantly agreed. So tomorrow, we will attempt an extremely risky rescue mission, as well as try to plant the virus of Robotnik's main computer. I know the odds of success are 1 in a million, but I cannot wait around any longer. I have to do something to make Julian pay for his vile crimes. In case we do fail, I made a backup copy of the virus on our computer's hard drive, even placing the computer in a secure room with a revolving wall for added security. The only way to access it is to find the black book on the top shelf with a red button inside. I'm 90% sure Robotnik will never find it because the only way you can access the red button in the book is with a voice recognition code. And the only voices it will respond to is mine, my husband's and my children. I'm hoping, should we fail, my kids will find the book, access the files on our computer and use the virus that should hopefully end the madness in Robotropolis. Anyway, I owe my brother in law so much for this technology he gave us. If it wasn't for him, I would have had to trash the computer, because I could not let Julian have the files on here.

In closing, I would like to add if my children are reading this, that I want you to know that your father and I love you all. Hopefully someday soon, we'll be back together again as a family. Stand strong my offspring, and never give up hope for a free Mobius.

Bernadette Hedgehog.

After Nicole turned off the display, A few tears came streaming down Sonic's face. When Sally saw his expression, she hugged him tightly in compassion.

"Oh, Sonic, I'm so sorry…" Sally said with genuine sympathetically. "That must have been so hard for you to read."

"They tried to stop Robotnik on their own…" he stated somberly with a sniffle, trying to keep from crying inside, "But they paid for it. They're now his robot slaves."

In that moment, Sonic's emotions soon changed abruptly from sorrow to rage, now clinching his right fist tightly, as well as gritting his teeth. Even Sally could sense this from where she was sitting.

Instantly, images of Robotnik laughing triumphantly over his roboticized parents flashed through his mind.

Now learning the fate of his beloved Mom and Dad, Sonic couldn't even begin to imagine the true horror that Julian had put them through from that day on.

These thoughts of his, to put it lightly, ate at his emotional well being at an alarming rate, even to the point of plotting pure revenge.

Trying to help him get his mind back on track, Sally now placed a hand on his right shoulder, saying to him while looking at the blue hedgehog, "Sonic, I understand you're really upset right now, and I don't blame you at all. But… you need to keep your composure here."

"How can I keep my composure after learning what that monster did to my Mom and Dad?" Sonic shot back with anger on his face. "Robotnik probably even took away my brother and sister too for all I know…!"

Sally though wouldn't let up, reiterating, "Sonic, we don't know that for sure. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't… My point is, don't go borrowing trouble for something you don't know yet."

"Yea, I know…" Sonic replied, sighing heavily while shaking his head.

Sally then said firmly to him, now looking him in the eye, "Sonic, listen, I'll do everything in my power to help you get them back. I don't know when that will be, but I assure you, if we have the chance the save your parents and restore them to normal, I will do whatever it takes to see it happen."

Sonic was soon in deep thought, as Sally inquired of him intently, "Will you trust me on this?"

Sighing heavily again, the blue hedgehog replied with a slight nod, "Yea, I trust you, Sal."

Sally now slightly smiled at him, saying, "Thank you…"

Ten seconds later, the squirrel princess told her super computer, "Nicole, display the picture file on the screen."

When the picture was displayed, Sonic and Sally gasped once more. It was a family photo of Sonic, alongside his Mom, Dad, siblings and Uncle.

"Sonic, look!" Sally exclaimed.

Sonic glanced at it closely, where he soon saw the faces of his long lost siblings

"So, my trace memories were right after all…" Sonic commented softly. "That's what Manic and Sonia looked like in the back of my mind too."

"Unbelievable…" Sally stated in disbelief.

"So, what do we do now with this new information from my Mom? Sonic inquired.

"We have to find your siblings, Sonic." Sally answered firmly. "At the very least we need to see if they're safe and secure."

"But how are we gonna find the East Mobius shelter anyhow?" Sonic inquired further. "My Mom didn't give us directions to the location."

Sally knew this true unfortunately, so she said after pondering it long and hard, "Nicole, give me all information on the East Mobius Underground Shelter."

After scanning for a few seconds, Nicole replied, "No data found."

"Say what?" Sonic was dumbfounded to put it lightly.

"Are you sure, Nicole?"

"100% sure, Sally."

"That underground shelter of Cyrus' must really be cryptic if Nicole doesn't even know about it." Sally commented, putting a hand under her chin to think.

"Doh, man! Now how are we gonna find them?" Sonic asked with disgust.

"Well, how bout we ask your Uncle Chuck about it?" Sally suggested. "Maybe he might have some additional info for us."

"You really think he knows anything about that place?" Sonic inquired with arched eyebrows.

"Well, it can't hurt to ask him, right?" Sally replied.

"Yea, that's true…"

"C'mon, let's get going." Sally reiterated firmly. "We don't have a moment to lose."

And with that statement, the two of them quickly walked towards the door of the hut and began to head outside.


	3. Heading for the East Underground Shelter

Chapter 3: Heading for the East Underground Shelter

After Sonic and Sally headed outside, Bunnie came running up towards them, waving her metal arm left to right.

"Hey y'all, what's up?" she inquired with a warm greeting.

"Oh, hi, Bunnie." Sally replied. "We were just heading over to Uncle Chuck's hut for some information."

"What kind of info, Sally girl?" the cyborg rabbit asked, now curious inside.

"Well, I've examined the files from his parent's computer, and we've made a fascinating discovery."

"Which is what exactly?"

"It turns out, Sonic has siblings."

Bunnie held her hands together in awe and said gleefully, "Oh mah stars, that is so exciting! Where are they?"

"Someplace called the East Mobius Shelter," Sonic replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Problem is, we don't have a clue how to access it. That's why we're going to see if Uncle Chuck knows anything about it."

"All right then, let's find out."

Just then, Antoine came running up to them as well, shouting in sort of passionate, "Yoo-hoo!"

"Oh great," Sonic muttered with a frown, "What does he want now?"

"Sonic, be nice."

"Ah, there you are, my Princess." Antoine stated after coming to stop. "I've written you another lovely poem, just for you. Would you like me to read it to you now?"

"Uh, no thanks, Antoine." Sally answered in bit of hesitance. "Maybe later…"

Antoine though wouldn't be deterred in the least, as he immediately began to read it out loud. To make matters worse, this time it was about comparing his love for Sally to his favorite French desserts. It was very mushy to say the least, but also very unmoving. Sally rolled her eyes while Sonic put a finger down his throat to show his contempt for Antoine's crazy attempts to win her heart yet again.

Before he could get halfway, Sonic finally interrupted him, shouting now out of patience, "Would you give it a rest, Ant? Stop making a fool of yourself!"

"Well, you are just a jealous fuel who can't admit I'm a true artist when it comes to zee romance!" The French coyote argued in a huff.

"Yea, right… And I'm an uncool slowmo." Sonic shot back sarcastically.

Not surprisingly, the two of them soon got into a heated argument after that retort, shouting at each other back and forth.

Sally thankfully though quickly broke it up, shouting now out of patience herself, "That's enough already! Break it up, you two!"

Sonic and Antoine however still glared at each other intently, as Sally added while grabbing the blue hedgehog by the arm, C'mon Sonic, we need to find Uncle Chuck right away."

"Yea, you're right." He then looked at the French coyote as he walked away saying with a mocking wave of his right hand, "Later, Picasso."

After they were out of ears range, Antoine commented with a frown, "I'll never understand why my beautiful Princess prefers zat stupid fuel over me."

Bunnie then lightly smacked him on the shoulder with her metal hand from behind, taking him by surprise

"What did you do that for?" he asked a bit startled.

"Just curious, Ant." Bunnie inquired with a frown. "How come you're always writing love poems to Sally girl and never any to me?"

Antoine instantly began to stutter as to try to come up with a good reason why he didn't, replying with a mumble, "Well, its just zat she is so beautiful; I can't help but express it in a poem."

"Are y'all saying she's beautiful and I'm not?"

"Uh, well, I wouldn't say zat exactly..." Antoine answered with deep hesitance. "You are, but not in zee same way as my Princess."

"Well, what am I then?" Bunnie interrogated, still glaring at him intently. "Chopped Liver! Honestly, ah don't know why you keep trying to win her heart anyway. Can't you see she loves Sonic?"

"True, but I can't just let her go." Antoine explained a bit saddened. "She is zee love of my life."

Bunnie then sighed while shaking her head, commenting after walking a couple of steps away, "Do us all a favor, and find yourself another girl to woo after, ok? There are other females around here ya know."

Before the cyborg rabbit could take five more steps, Antoine asked her with curiosity, "Are you suggesting you want me to write my love poems to you instead, Bunnie?"

Bunnie instantly stopped in her tracks, with her cheeks now turning a couple shades of red and replied, now looking at him awkwardly, "Uh, well, it would be nice gesture, I guess..."

Antoine then answered with a smirk, "Well, if I had known you liked me that way, I would have gladly written you one too, Mon belle du sud."

Bunnie's cheeks were now completely flushed red, asking with embarrassment, "When did I ever imply I liked you that way?"

"But, didn't you just ask me why I never wrote you a love poem?" Antoine argued with puzzlement.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I got feelings for ya, Ant." Bunnie explained firmly. "Ah just said it would be a nice gesture. Maybe if you weren't so cowardly, I might like you more. Who knows?"

After a brief pause, the cyborg rabbit said while walking away again, "Anyway, I gotta get back to training Tails. See ya later."

Antoine instantly clenched his fists in disgust while Bunnie walked away from him, muttering under his breath, "Hmph! Zee females are such fickle species. How dare they say I'm cowardly! Why, I am one of zee bravest Freedom Fighters around here!"

For the next two minutes, the French coyote bragged about how elite he was a Freedom Fighter. However, during his time of self-boasting, a large branch suddenly came tumbling down within a foot to flattening the French coyote into a pancake. When Antoine saw how close it came to hitting him, he began to scream and lay on the floor whimpering.

"Antoine, y'all ok?" Bunnie asked as she ran up to him with concern on her face.

Antoine thankfully wasn't hit at all by the large tree branch, but to no one's surprise, Bunnie now saw him trembling on the ground. She soon commented while putting her hands on her waist, "And you wonder why Sally loves Sonic more. Y'all really need to toughen up, Ant."

"Is everyone all right?" Tails asked her, also running onto the scene.

"Yea, nobody's hurt, honey." Bunnie reiterated with a smile. "Just make sure you're more careful with your aim next time. Those grenades can pack quite a wallop."

"Oh, sure thing, Aunt Bunnie."

Antoine soon picked himself off the floor and dusted off his outfit, as he overheard Tails ask Bunnie, "So, how long do I have to train with the Practice Freedom Fighter Squad?"

"Until you pass all the tests to prove your skills, of course." Bunnie replied with a sly chuckle. "After all, you want to be ready to go when you're called onto a mission, right?"

"Yea, I guess so, Aunt Bunnie."

Antoine meanwhile again glared at them again, muttering in huff, "I'll show zem fuels soon enough what I can really do. They shall rue zee day they mocked me…"

Meanwhile, Sonic and Sally arrived at Uncle Chuck's hut. As they entered, they saw him working on his computer.

"Hey Unc." The blue hedgehog greeted.

Charles quickly turned around and said with a smile, "Oh, hello, you two. What brings you by?"

"Actually, Charles," Sally said softly, "We need to ask you a very personal question."

"Ok, shoot."

Sally at first hesitated to ask since she didn't know how to say it without any awkwardness, but replied nonetheless, "Um, just wondering, would you by any chance know where the East Mobius Underground Shelter is?"

Instantly, Charles' face grew sullen. He then turned his back to them and sighed heavily.

"You know where it is, don't you, Uncle Chuck?" Sonic asked

"Yea, I do…" He answered with another sigh. "I was actually hoping you wouldn't find out about it, at least not till the war is over."

"Why did you hide this information from me, Uncle Chuck?" Sonic inquired in disappointment. "I don't understand. Didn't you want me to be reunited with them?"

"Sonic, please don't be angry with me that I kept this a secret." Charles replied, now turning around to look him in the eye. "Believe me, I would have loved to seen you and your brother and sister reunite. But, I didn't want you expose its secret entrance. There are over a hundred Mobian citizens living there. If Snively ever found out, he would round them up instantly and make them his robot slaves."

"Ok, I can understand that, but why didn't you at least tell me I had siblings?"

"I was very tempted to tell you, Sonny boy, but I just couldn't take the risk of them being captured and roboticized." Charles explained. "And besides, you had your hands full with the war against Robotnik. The last thing you needed was information that would have distracted you from taking him down."

Ironically, Sonic couldn't argue with that one iota.

"Sir Charles, we really need to know its location." Sally stated to the roboticized hedgehog firmly after a brief pause. "If we can bring Manic and Sonia to Knothole, we can keep them safe from Snively. Maybe they can even help our cause."

"And what about the other citizens living there?" Charles inquired with arched eyebrows "Once you open up that entrance, chances are Snively will find out about it too."

Sally now rested a hand on her chin and began to think. She then replied a few seconds later, "Well, how bout we go under the cover of night? It wouldn't be so visible to the spy orbs then."

Chuck sighed and said after thinking it over himself, "I suppose so… Very well, I'll tell you. At the entrance to Knothole, walk east for about five miles. There you will find a large square patch of daisies. Find the one that feels real, but doesn't look it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sonic asked with a puzzled expression on his face.

"That's all I know. Once you find it, pluck it out and it'll reveal the secret entrance. There you will meet the leader of the group, Cyrus."

"Cool. Thanks, Uncle Chuck."

"Anytime, Sonic.

Before they left though, Sally asked of him, "So, how did you find out about this place anyway? I don't remember reading in those journals that Sonic's parents told you about the location."

"They didn't." Charles explained. "However, after Sonic helped me return to normal mentally, I did some investigating. I didn't see Manic and Sonia in the database as being roboticized, so I searched for their location on Robotnik's main hard drive. When it came up with nothing, I decided to do some exploring around Mobius whenever I got the chance to. It was then I ran into Cyrus in the Great Forest. He thought I was going to capture him since I was a Robian, so he tried to take me out. Thankfully though, I used my real voice before he could attack. Instantly, he recognized me and asked what I was doing here. When I told him of my quest, he informed me he had my nephew and niece in his shelter. Cyrus then told me to keep it a secret if he agreed to show it to me, which of course I did. I then told him of my other nephew and his friends and how you all were getting closer every day to finally overthrowing Robotnik's rule."

"Anyway…" Charles said after a brief pause, "After he showed me its location and how to access it, Cyrus made me swear I wouldn't go there or tell anyone about it until the war was over. When you finally did overthrow Robotnik, I was planning to tell you about the place when you returned from your first day of cleaning up Robotropolis. But, as you well know, you never got the chance since Snively took us all by surprise."

Sonic then said softly with disgust in his voice, "Yea, no kidding..."

"I really wish you two would wait until after the war, Sonic. I just don't have a good feeling about this."

"Don't worry, Unc. We'll be in and out of there before old needle nose even get suspicious."

Chuck sighed heavily again, eventually replying with extreme reluctance, "Oh, all right then." He gave them each a hug and said, "Be careful, you two."

"We will, Sir Charles." Sally reiterated firmly.

Sonic and Sally then turned to leave and head out the door.

However, before they could get halfway, Sir Charles spoke up loudly, saying, "Oh, I almost forgot something…"

The two of them now turned around a bit puzzled, with the blue hedgehog asking him, "What is it, Unc?"

Sir Charles quickly dug something out of metal pocket, replying, "You'll need this to help you get inside."

Within seconds, the roboticized hedgehog pulled out a medium sized medallion, one with three engraved blue hedgehog shaped spikes in the middle of it, quickly handing it over to his nephew.

Sonic glanced at it intently, soon asking his uncle, "What is this thing anyway?"

"It was my personal reward from King Max after making him a prototype portable computer." Sir Charles explained. "I showed Cyrus this as a means of identification after we met in case I decided to send someone else to bring my nephew and niece to Knothole."

Sonic instantly looked on with a smile, commenting, "Way past cool, Unc. If this Cyrus guy doesn't believe our story, this should convince him who we are no sweat."

Sally then spoke up after clearing her throat, saying, "Anyway, let's be on our way. It's getting very dark out."

Sonic quickly nodded his head, as he soon nodded his head and headed out the door.

Sally meanwhile glanced back at Sir Charles with a look of gratitude on her face, saying to him softly, "Thanks for all your help. We appreciate it more than you know."

Sir Charles this time didn't say anything, but slightly nodded his head in response.

After Sally exited the hut, Sonic then commented, "You know, I just remembered something… We never opened that Freedom Fighters file on Nicole."

"Hmm, true…" Sally replied in deep thought. "Well, we can look at it later. Right now, we got a long trip ahead of us."

"Hey, hey, Sal, c'mon… You seem to forget I can get us there in less than a minute running."

"Oh, yea, right…"

"So, when you want to leave?"

Sally put a hand on her chin and replied suggesting, "Well, how bout now?"

"You sure about that?" Sonic inquired with arched eyebrows. "What about dinner?"

"I already had mine while you were out, and I know you already had yours with Tails." Sally reiterated. "So, what other excuse do we have to stay here now?"

"Cool. Let's juice then."

And with that statement, the two of them walked towards the exit.

Once they were outside the Great Forest, Sonic asked, "You think we should've brought the team to help us out?"

"No, not this time." Sally replied firmly. "I mean, we need to keep a low profile so Snively won't find out where we're going."

"Yea, good idea. You ready, Sal?"

Sally instantly jumped into his arms and said, "Ready as I'll ever be. Hit it, Sonic!"

Sonic then winded up his legs and blasted off East. While Sonic was running, Sally held onto Nicole and got her to calculate the miles traveled. Not surprisingly, Sonic got them there in less than thirty seconds.

"Ok, Sonic. Stop here." The squirrel Princess instructed.

Sonic instantly slid the back his shoes towards the ground in order to create a lot of friction, quickly coming to a stop.

"What's up, Sal?"

"We're here, Sonic. Look." Sally pointed ahead to a large flowerbed of daisies. "Well, I must say, you sure got us here quickly."

"See? I told ya I could do it." Sonic boasted with a sly wink.

"Yes, I'll give you that." Sally replied non chalantly. "Anyway, let's get started."

Unfortunately though, the two of them quickly discovered finding the right daisy would easier said than done. There was at least over 300 of them.

"Doh, man!" Sonic groaned, placing a hand on his head in disbelief. "How are we gonna find the right one in all this mess?"

"I guess we'll just have to inspect each one at a time." Sally stated while shrugging her shoulders.

Sonic sighed heavily and commented while shaking his head, "I was afraid you were gonna say that."

It was a very time consuming process to say the least. Sonic and Sally started at different ends and began to check them one at a time. Not surprisingly, Sonic was grumbling nearly the whole time.

"Man, this is so frustrating. Why couldn't they make it easier to access?"

"Sonic, use your head." Sally reiterated sharply. "If they made it easier to access, Snively would have found it already."

Not surprisingly, the blue hedgehog could not argue with that at all.

At the halfway point of the flower bed, neither still found the right one to trigger the secret entrance.

"When we find that Cyrus guy, I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind." The blue hedgehog muttered again.

"Sonic, would you stop complaining already?" Sally demanded, now getting annoyed at his attitude. "He's the reason your siblings had a place of refuge during Robotnik's siege!"

"How do we even know they're still here?" Sonic argued. "For all we know, they could have moved out and tried to find me."

"Because Uncle Chuck confirmed to us a while ago that Cyrus still has them in his shelter." Sally countered.

"But that was months ago." Sonic shot back. "We don't know for sure if they're still here or not."

Sally ironically couldn't refute that argument on Sonic's part, but replied anyway, "Well, there's only one way to find out, right?"

"Yea, I guess so…"

At that moment, Sally could sense the blue hedgehog was having serious doubts inside. So, she said to try and cheer him up, "Look, even if it turns out they're no longer here, we'll keep looking for them until they're found. We won't quit searching just because of a possible dead end."

Strangely, Sonic didn't respond to this at all, as he was now in deep thought.

Sally then told him to show her support after a ten second pause, "If it's any consolation to you, I know what it like is to lose a sibling."

Sonic now looked up, as he saw Sally add with a tear in her eye, "My brother Elias was cruelly taken from me and my family when I was only two by sadistic Overlanders. Even though I was very young and it was many years ago, I still feel the pain of losing him. He was… in a sense, my only brother."

By this time, Sonic couldn't help but feel sympathy for her sorrow too.

Sally then told him firmly while looking him in the eye from a distance, "Sonic, when you finally do reunite with your brother and sister, don't ever take those special moments with them for granted. In these chaotic times, none of us can say for sure who will be left standing when this war is indeed finally won."

To put it lightly, Sonic was completely blown away by her words. He soon replied after a brief pause with a nod, "I will, Sal."

After that was said, both of them resumed their work in silence.

Ten minutes later, Sally soon spoke up, commenting, "Hmm, that's odd."

"What's up, Sal?" Sonic asked, walking up to her.

"This daisy had blue specks on it. The rest are plain yellow. Then that means…"

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Sonic said firmly. "Pull it up, Sal."

Sally quickly pulled it up, and the two of them then waited to see if anything happened. When nothing did for 10 seconds, Sonic commented, "I don't get it. I thought my Unc said pull the flower that doesn't look real. You think they changed the way to access the shelter?"

Sally sighed and answered, "Perhaps…"

After another ten second passed, Sally added, "Well, maybe we should go back for now. No point in sticking around if we can't get inside. We don't want to draw any attention from Snively's spy orbs. "

"Yea, good thinking." Sonic stated softly.

However, no sooner had they turned around, a loud rumbling occurred.

"Hey, what's going on?" Sonic asked perplexed.

Seconds later, a large square next to the flowerbed opened up and tilted down, revealing a secret passageway with stairs heading underground.

"This is it, Sonic." Sally exclaimed with glee.

The two of them then quickly made their way down the stairs and began to explore the area. Unfortunately though, it soon became so dark, they couldn't see their hand in front of their faces.

"Whoa, what's up with this?" Sonic asked confused.

"Nicole, can you give some light?"

"No problem, Sally." Nicole then lit up her screen, which gave them some visibility as they continued down the flight of stairs.

A minute later, they found light up ahead. "That must be the entrance, Sonic." Sally stated.

Unfortunately though, they couldn't even take five steps out of the stairway before both of them were caught in a net trap that lifted them high in the air. To make matters worse, the inside of the net had been soaked with mega muck, making it next to impossible to move.

"Hey, what's the big deal here?" Sonic asked a bit annoyed.

"You are, intruders!" A strange voice answered gruffly.

"Who said that?" the blue hedgehog inquired.

The stranger then walked into the light, which was none other than the leader of the underground shelter, Cyrus.

"I'll ask the questions around here. Now, who are you and what are you doing in my shelter?" Cyrus demanded.

"I'm Sally, and this is Sonic." The squirrel princess stated. "We're here to find his lost siblings."

"Sally, as in Princess Sally?"

"Yes, that's right."

Cyrus then laughed heartily for a few seconds, saying firmly, "Yea, right... Sorry, but you're gonna have to show me some solid proof you're who you claim you are. Anybody could claim that with the right disguise."

Sonic quickly spoke up, saying "Well, I know you talked to my Uncle Chuck after he was freed of his slave program. That's the reason we're here now."

"Chuck? You mean Sir Charles?" Cyrus interrogated. "Is that who you're referring to?"

"Yea, like I said, he's my Uncle." Sonic replied.

"Fine, show me a Power Ring of his to validate this claim then, hedgehog." Cyrus told him.

Sonic however couldn't do that, as she awkwardly shrugged his shoulders and replied with a nervous grin, "Uh, well… you see, I sort of used up the one I had today."

Sally then smacked her forehead and said with a frown, "Of course, you used it to take Tails for a joyride. Nice going, Sonic."

"Hey, how was I supposed to know we would need one to get in?" Sonic argued.

"All right then, I'll give you a quiz instead." Cyrus stated. "If you can answer three questions, I'll give you a chance to prove you're legit. If not, you're going to our dungeon for the time being."

"Oh yea? You and what army?" Sonic challenged with arrogance.

Cyrus then snapped his fingers, and several of his bodyguards came out. All of whom were a mix of bears, rhinos and other lions. They were all muscularly built and each armed with laser guns.

"Ok, you got me there." Sonic commented, shrugging his shoulders.

"Here's your first question." Cyrus said with a fierce glare. "What are the names of you ones you seek?"

"That's easy," Sonic replied. "Manic and Sonia."

"Correct, but don't get too overconfident. That was only a warm-up. Second question, what's the first name of the King was who sent to the Void?"

"His name is Max." Sally answered quickly.

"Hmm, very good." Cyrus said with arched eyebrows. "Now it's time for a real stumper. What's the name of the leader who leads the Wolf Pack Freedom Fighters?"

"Lupe." Sally answered quickly again.

Cyrus then scratched his forehead and commented, "Well, I'll be. You answered my questions with flying colors. I'm impressed."

He then ordered his troops, "Cut them down at once."

After Sonic and Sally were freed of the sticky net and safely on the ground, Cyrus said to them, "Ok, you answered my questions without any difficulties, but I still need to see some proof to show me you are who you claim to be."

"What more proof do you need?" Sonic demanded annoyed. "The fact we answered your questions correctly should be more than enough to prove our identity."

"Normally they would, but anyone I believe could answer those questions if they did enough research." Cyrus explained. "And since you two are claiming to be high caliber leaders of the Freedom Fighters, I have to be absolutely sure about that for the sake of the residents here."

Sonic by the time was getting very annoyed and frustrated inside, as Cyrus added, "So again I ask you, do you have any form of proof to show you indeed have connections to Sir Charles?"

Sally finally spoke up with a snap of her fingers, saying, "Sonic, the medallion!"

Instantly, the blue hedgehog remembered it too, saying with a slight slap to the side of his face, "Doh, of course! I cannot believe I almost forgot about it."

Sonic then pulled it out of his pocket and gave it to Cyrus.

As the lion leader examined it closely, Sonic asked with a frown while placing his hands at his sides, "There, is that proof enough for ya?"

"Hmm… this is indeed Sir Charles' medallion." Cyrus commented after a long pause. "I remember it vividly the first time I saw it."

He then said with an awkward chuckle, "Well, ok then… I guess you guys are legit. I mean, Sir Charles wouldn't give his medallion to just anyone."

After another long pause, the lion leader said, "Anyway, my name is Cyrus, leader of the East Underground shelter."

"Nice to meet ya," Sonic said, shaking his hand.

"So, what brings you around this time of night?" Cyrus inquired.

"We're here to bring Manic and Sonia back to Knothole." Sally replied.

"I see…"

Sonic then asked the lion leader, "They are still here, right?"

"Yes, they're still among the residents of this shelter." Cyrus reiterated.

Sonic quickly took a deep sigh of relief, as the lion inquired further, "Although, are you really sure that's a wise decision on your part? You might risk them getting captured and roboticized during that transfer."

"Perhaps, but they need to be with their real family, Cyrus." Sally replied firmly. "Can you please take us to them?"

Cyrus sighed heavily and answered after thinking it over, "Sure, I suppose so... Follow me."

As they walked towards the main entrance, Sonic asked Cyrus, "So, do they know about me?"

"Not exactly," Cyrus explained. "They are aware of the fact they have a lost brother, but they don't know where you live or what you look like now. If I told them this information, I knew they would come looking for you. But I just couldn't risk that. Your mother made me promise to keep them safe."

"We appreciate that." Sally said.

"Anyway," Cyrus said, continuing, "believe it or not, they have heard of your group and your mission to free Mobius. Both of them have expressed a lot of interest in helping the cause, but I strictly forbid either of them to leave. In fact, after several of them left the shelter and got roboticized, I posted guards at the entrance 24/7, in order to prevent the risk of anymore Mobians getting captured."

"How come you never brought them by to Knothole?" Sonic asked.

Cyrus sighed and answered, "I suppose I should have, but it was just too dangerous in my opinion. Plus, I'm responsible for the wellbeing and care for over one hundred residents here, you know? It's a huge undertaking to put it lightly."

"We understand." Sally said. "Hopefully it won't be too long before we finally overthrow Snively and his regime for good."

"It can't come soon enough." Cyrus commented. "Anyway, we're here."

The lion then opened the large metal doors and said, "Welcome to the East Mobius Underground Shelter."

Sonic and Sally immediately looked at the place in awe. It was a luscious area filled with green grass all around, many fruit trees, and a flowing river. There was even a dirt road

"Whoa, check it out, Sal. This place is like another Knothole, only better."

"I know, Sonic, it's beautiful."

"So, shall we take a walk?" Sonic asked, extending his hand.

"Sure." Sally replied with a smile, grabbing hold of it.

As they walked, they saw many homes on each side. Most of them were either made out of wood or stone. There were also several businesses of many kinds and even a school. In fact, one of the businesses was one Sonic recognized when he was a kid.

"Hey, look, Sal." Sonic said pointing. "It's Bert's Chili Dog Stand."

"Oh great," Sally groaned, "Just what we need."

Sonic quickly rushed over there and began to order. "Two Chili dogs with the works, pal."

Bert began to chuckle as he prepared them, commenting "Well, well, If it isn't one of my best customers from the past."

"You remember me?"

"Of course, Sonic. How could I forget the kid who ate over a dozen chili dogs from my establishment everyday?"

Seconds later, his assistant came out with his order. "Here you go, sir. Enjoy."

"Thanks, babe." Sonic replied with a flirtatious smirk "So, what's your name?"

"Roxy," she answered with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, Roxy." Sonic commented.

Not surprisingly, Sally watched from a distance with a frown on her face.

Sonic then devoured his food in a hurry, followed quickly by one of his disgusting belches, which caused to Sally groan again. This was something she would never get used to.

"So, how do you stay in business, Bert?"

"Well, Sonic, it hasn't been easy. Ever since that scum of the earth Robotnik conquered the Mobius corners, I was forced to evacuate and hide. Thankfully though, I found out about this shelter and continued my business here. Then about three years ago, I hired Roxy as my assistant to help me with the orders. Business isn't booming, but it's good nonetheless."

"Cool. So, how about another round of dogs, Bert?"

"Sure, Sonic."

Unfortunately for the blue hedgehog, he would not get anymore as Sally's patience had finally run out with him. She then took Sonic by the hand and dragged him away. While he was being dragged away, Roxy commented with a giggle, "That hedgehog sure is cute."

Bert let out a chuckle and added, "I think he's taken, my dear, by that girl over there."

After he was back on the road, Sonic said "Hey, what's the big idea, Sal? You're being mondo rude."

"Sonic, would you focus on the job at hand?" Sally replied, placing her hands at her waist with a frown. "We have to find your siblings so we can get to them to Knothole."

"Yea, yea I know. I was just being friendly is all..."

"A little too friendly if you ask me." Sally muttered under her breath.

10 seconds later, they ran into another familiar face from their childhood. One of course neither was too thrilled to see.

"How are ya, How are ya? I haven't seen you two around before. Would you be interested in some of my merchandise?"

It was none other than that scoundrel salesman, Wes Weasley.

"Uh, no thanks." Sally replied. "We're kind of busy."

"Ah c'mon, palsy, it'll only take a second." Wes said, dragging them over to his booth. Sonic and Sally reluctantly stood by and waited as he presented his newest gimmick.

"Now, how would you like these genuine volumes of encyclopedias?"

Sally began to flip through them and then said with a frown, "All the pages are blank."

"So, you don't need to information anyway. After all, I'm sure you're a pretty smart gal."

"Forget it, Wes." Sonic said firmly "We're not stupid."

"Yea," Sally added. "I still remember when you tried to sell my family an ice maker in the winter time."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. C'mon, help me out, please? I'll even throw in a pair of gold plated nail clippers."

Cyrus finally stepped in and said, "That's enough, Weasley! I told you to quit trying to rip people off."

"Aw, c'mon, palsy." The weasel salesman protested. "It's no fun selling honest merchandise. I need to sucker somebody."

"Keep it up, and I'll throw you out here." Cyrus reiterated sharply.

That sobered up the weasel in a hurry. "All right, all right, fine. You win. Sheesh, such a kill joy…"

After Wes left the scene, Cyrus said, "You'll have to excuse him. He's a bit of a nut."

Sally replied with a giggle, "Its ok. I'm used to his kind."

"Anyway, shall we continue?"

"Lead the way, Cyrus." Sonic said

As they continued their walk, Sally commented while glancing around the shelter, "This place is amazing. How did you turn an underground shelter into a thriving community?"

"Well, having state of the art technology at your disposal helps out a lot," Cyrus replied softly. "But mainly it thrives because of dedication and hard work."

"Yea, but that still doesn't explain how you're able to get power to a community underground." Sally reiterated. "I mean, I can't imagine how difficult it must be to get electricity flowing through there."

"It was indeed very difficult." Cyrus explained. "In fact, had it not been for a special stone my father Lionel found years ago, living here would next to impossible."

"What kind of special stone?" Sonic inquired.

At first, Cyrus was hesitant to tell them about it, but answered, "I'll show you the stone, only on the terms that you promise to keep this between yourselves."

"We promise, Cyrus dude." Sonic told him nonchalantly.

"I'm serious here…" the lion leader reiterated sharply. "You cannot even tell your comrades about it."

As the two of them looked at him puzzled, Cyrus added, "If Robotnik or Snively ever found out about this, they would raid the shelter and try to use it vast energy for their own evil purposes."

"The stone's that valuable?" the blue hedgehog inquired with arched eyebrows.

"Indeed." Cyrus answered firmly. "So, do I have your promise you will not speak one word about this to anyone else?"

Sally quickly nodded her head in agreement, replying, "We promise, Cyrus. You can trust us to keep this a secret."

Sensing her sincerity, Cyrus nodded his head back, saying in response, "Very well… follow me."

The lion leader then escorted them towards the east side of the shelter, where they walked up a small hill.

Once they climbed up it, Sonic and Sally saw two guards up ahead with laser guns, guarding the stone behind an electric fence.

Sonic and Sally immediately looked on in amazement, as the stone was enormous, almost the size of a large boulder.

"There it is, the stone of Mobodoon." Cyrus stated, pointing towards it.

"Whoa… that's thing's gigantic." Sonic commented.

"This stone is what's powering your entire community?" Sally inquired.

"Indeed." Cyrus replied with a nod.

"How is it able to do all of that?" the Princess squirrel inquired further.

"Nobody knows for sure." Cyrus answered. "Not even my father Lionel could figure out how it's able to constantly generate so much energy within it after finding it in some ruins."

"Man, that thing's got more juice in it than the Power Ring Stone." Sonic commented with a low whistle.

"Do you ever worry about it running out of power?" Sally asked

"Yes, but so far, it's held up for over fifteen years without any slowdown whatsoever." Cyrus explained. "My guess is, it's power source is nothing short of mystical."

"Indeed…" Sonic said. "That's one mondo power stone."

After a ten second pause, Cyrus cleared his throat and said to the blue hedgehog, "Anyway, you came here to find your siblings, so let's go see them now, shall we?"

"Oh yea, right…" Sonic replied. "Let's get going."

About halfway there though, a rubber ball then came flying out of nowhere and almost smacked Sonic in the head. Luckily though, he had very fast reflexes and caught it with his hands.

"Sonic, you ok?" Sally asked

"Yea, I'm fine." He replied with a frown. "But where did this come from?"

It didn't take them long to find out, as a small tan and white girl rabbit quickly came running up to them and said, "Sorry bout that, mister hedgehog. Can I have my ball back please?"

"Sure, kid." Sonic answered with a slight frown. "Just make sure you don't toss it where people are walking."

After he handed it over to her, white and tan rabbit said from a slight distance, "Big, please be careful next time. You almost hit this nice hedgehog."

"Oh, sorry about that." The large white and purple cat replied with a nervous chuckle. "I guess I don't know my own strength."

"Aw look, Sonic, isn't she adorable?" Sally commented with a smile.

She then asked the white and tan rabbit while kneeling at her eye level. "So, what's your name, sweetie?"

"Cream."

"Nice to meet you," the squirrel princess said, patting her on the head. "I'm Sally. Is that your pet on your shoulder?"

"Yea, his name is Cheese."

"He's very cute."

"Thank you, Miss Sally. Well, I better be going. Big and I were in the middle of a game. See ya later."

After she left, Sally commented with a sigh as they continued their walk again, "If she didn't have a mother, I'd almost be tempted to adopt her and raise her in Knothole."

Sonic then said with a puzzling look, "C'mon, Sal, get real. We're in the middle of a war. You'd have no time to take care of a little child."

"I know, Sonic." Sally replied with another sigh. "But I can dream, can't I?" She then said looking at him romantically, "Who knows? Maybe after this war is over and we're of age, we could get married and have our own child, right?"

Unfortunately, that statement gave Sonic quite a fright, as he asked very awkwardly, "Uh, you're not serious, are you?"

"Relax, Sonic, I'm just teasing a bit. But I hope you won't shut the door on the idea entirely."

"Uh, I'll have to get back to you on that…" the blue hedgehog replied nervously.

Before Sally could say another word, Cyrus said clearing his throat, "We're here."

Both of them then blushed heavily, realizing Cyrus had heard the whole conversation.

Sally finally spoke up and said, "Uh, thanks."

"If you need anything, let me know." Cyrus said, walking away. "I'll be near the entrance."

"Uh, sure thing." Sonic replied sheepishly. "Thanks."

When he was finally out of ear's range, Sally said still blushing a bit, "We can talk about this another time. Right now, we've got a mission to complete."

"Right, Sal."

As they walked closer to the homes, both of them heard music coming from the house on the left.

"What is that racket?" Sonic inquired.

"I don't know," Sally inquired with a smile, "But I like it. C'mon, let's check it out."

The two of them then opened the door, and there they saw Sonia in a room up ahead on a piano, performing a classical number for someone they didn't recognize at first.

Within a minute, the female hedgehog finished the piece, as the upper class mink proclaimed while clapping his hands together in applause, "Bravo, Sonia. That was a beautiful number."

Sonia though didn't feel the same, as she replied with a heavy sigh, "Bartelby, I don't know you keep insisting I play this boring renaissance music for you. It's getting monotonous!"

"Nonsense, my dear Sonia." Bartleby told her with a smile. "You play it like an artist."

While Sonia mumbled about it again, Sally soon said to Sonic while placing a hand under her chin to think, "Hmmm, Bartleby… Now why does that name sound familiar?"

"You know this guy?" Sonic inquired with arched eyebrows.

After pondering it over for about twelve seconds, Sally finally snapped her fingers together, saying, "Of course! Now I remember. He was one of the upper class children that would visit the palace."

"So, he's one of those muckity muck snobs, eh?" Sonic commented with a frown.

Sally completely ignored his remark, eventually commenting out of the blue when she finally saw his face from a distance, "Wow, he sure became handsome over the years."

Sonic instantly looked at her dumbfounded, asked with arched eyebrows again, "Say what? Are you actually insinuating that you think he's attractive?"

"Well, maybe a little bit…" Sally replied, looking away with awkwardness. "He did always look suave now that I clearly remember him."

"Oh, gag me why don't you?" Sonic stated, rolling his eyes.

"Do I detect some jealousy on your part, Sonic hedgehog?" Sally inquired with playful banter.

Before Sonic could answer back, he and Sally overheard Bartleby say to Sonia as she walked away from him, "C'mon, my dear, play another number for me."

"Forget it, Bartleby." Sonia replied firmly. "I'm not playing anymore of that sappy music. My forte will always be rock and roll."

"But that music is for lowlifes, Sonia." Bartleby argued. "You shouldn't lower yourself to such drudgery."

"Who are you to judge what…"

Sonia then stopped in her tracks, as she finally saw Sonic and Sally.

"Who are you, guys?" she demanded a bit startled. "And what are you doing in my house?"

Before either of them could answer though, Manic finally came inside the house too, saying while waving back, "See you later, Ferrell. I'm going to go jam with my sis for a bit now."

Moments later, he too saw Sonic and Sally, as he now commented, "Whoa, I didn't know we had new residents in our shelter."

Bartleby finally spoke up and demanded, "Would you two ruffians kindly explain what you're doing in such a beautiful house like Lady Windimire's without so much as knocking?"

However, before either Sonic or Sally could answer again, Bartleby then took a good look at the squirrel Princess, commenting, "Wait a second… There's something familiar about you. I don't know why, but I have a strange inkling I've seen your face somewhere before."

"You should, Bartelby." Sonic retorted firmly. "She's the Princess."

Bartleby again studied Sally's face, as he soon said with a big smile on his face, "Oh my goodness… Is that really you, Princess Sally?"

Sally quickly nodded her head, as Bartleby walked towards her and kissed her right hand, exclaiming with excitement, "It is so good to see you again, my fair Princess."

Not surprisingly, Sally looked at him awkwardly while Sonic frowned at his flirting. Even Sonia wasn't too thrilled by it either.

"Uh, nice to see you too, Bartleby." Sally replied with a nervous chuckle.

"I thought for certain when Robotnik took over the palace, you were either roboticized or killed." Bartleby explained. "But now, to not see you not only alive and well, but even more beautiful than I remembered makes me so…"

Sonic finally interrupted him, saying sharply, "Oh would you stop slobbering over Sal already? You're making me want to puke!"

Bartleby would have responded angrily to his sharp words, but Sonia spoke up before he could, reiterating while putting at her hands at his waist with disgust, "He's right. After all, I thought you were my fiancé, Bartleby!"

"Say what?" Sonic to say the least was not expecting that at all.

Bartleby meanwhile looked at Sonia awkwardly, replying to try and calm the waters, "Don't be silly, my dear Sonia. Of course I am your fiancé. However, I was just relieved to see the Princess alive and well. Surely there's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"There is when you act like she's your childhood sweetheart." Sonia shot back.

Bartleby again attempted to calm her down, but Sonia this time wouldn't give him the chance, as she now glanced at Sonic, saying while crossing her arms together, "Anyway, we've established who she is. Now would you mind telling us who you are?"

"I'd be glad to." Sonic replied.

As Manic glanced at him intently as well, the blue hedgehog told them plainly, "I know this may sound hard to believe, but I am in fact, Sonic, your long lost brother."

"Say what?" Both Manic and Sonia said this almost in unison.

"Give us a break." Sonia said with a frown, not convinced. "You actually expect us to believe that?"

Sonic was shocked by her answer. "What, you're saying you don't believe me?"

"Duh," Manic replied, also frowning at him. "Anyone can claim they're our long lost brother, but we're gonna need to see some evidence."

"Ok, ask me anything about our family." Sonic suggested.

"Fine, what's the name of our roboticized Uncle?" Sonia asked

That's easy, his name is Charles." Sonic answered confidently. "In fact, he lives with me now. Is that proof enough for you?"

"Not quite," Manic replied, "Next question, what was the color of our Mom's hair?"

"Yellow." Sonic answered again

"Hmm," Sonia said, rubbing her chin. "Ok, answer two more questions correctly and we'll believe you. What's the name of our Mom and Dad?"

"Jules and Bernadette."

"And where did we live before coming here when Robuttnik took over Mobius?" Manic interrogated.

"The Great Swamp."

Manic and Sonia now looked at each completely amazed. Manic then said with his arms open wide, "Bro, it really is you."

The three hedgehogs quickly ran up to each other and embraced one another tightly. It was very touching reunion to put it lightly.

Bartleby, to no one's surprise was not the least bit thrilled, as he said with a huff, "Figures… since your brother Manic has no manners, I shouldn't be shocked this Sonic doesn't have any either."

Sonia then shot him a dirty look from over Sonic's shoulder, which quickly shut up the high class mink.

After a brief pause, Manic asked the blue hedgehog, "So tell me, bro, where do you live?"

"In Knothole." Sonic answered.

After he said that, both Manic and Sonia looked at him in amazement, with the female hedgehog asking, "Wait, you mean you're part of the Knothole Freedom Fighters?"

"You got it, sis." Sonic replied with a grin. "In fact, Sal and I are the main leaders."

"Oh my goodness," Sonia exclaimed with glee. "Are you the ones who destroyed the Doomsday Project with the Deep Power Stones?"

"You got it." Sonic replied with a grin

"Whoa, dude. That's awesome. So, tell me, is the Princess like your girlfriend or something?"

Sonic and Sally blushed heavily at Manic's question with Sonic replying while looking away, "Yea, you might say that."

Manic then gave Sonic a friendly jab to the ribs with his elbow commenting, "You are so lucky, bro."

Before Sonic could say anything in response, the green hedgehog added with a friendly rib, "You better hang onto her, or I just might sweep this gal off her feet."

Sonic knew he was joking, so he just laughed along with him. Sally of course didn't it find it very funny. She instead just frowned at his comment.

"Ah, c'mon, Sal." Sonic said with a smirk. "He was only teasing."

"Yea, I know. Anyway, we need to tell you why we're here."

"Ok, shoot." Sonia said.

"We're here to bring you back to Knothole. Your mother tried to take you there once before, but was unable to. It was her wish to see you reunited with your family and friends."

Instantly, both of them remembered this, as Sonia commented after a long pause, "You're right. I had almost forgotten about that, having it been over ten years ago."

Manic then spoke up, saying, "Well, what are we waiting around here for? Let's get packing and head where we belong."

As they went to pack however, Bartleby walked towards Sonia after she was in her room, inquiring of her, "You really going back with them?"

"Of course I am." Sonia replied sharply. "How could I not, especially after remembering this is what my Mom wanted."

"But, Knothole is so…"

"Knothole is so what, Bartleby?" Sonia inquired with a slight frown.

Thankfully for the upper class mink, he didn't get a chance to say his piece, as Sally finally spoke up, shouting, "Wait a minute, guys! I just thought of something…"

The two hedgehogs quickly came back into the room with Sonia asking, "What's wrong?"

"Well, its just that, I don't think we should rush this transfer. What it if we get spotted by Snively's spy orbs on the way out and end up compromising the secret entrance while carrying your stuff back to Knothole?"

"You do have a point there, Sal." Sonic said

"So, what do we do then?" Manic asked

Sally soon pondered this over deeply, eventually, replying, "Well, as much as I hate to wait, I think we should come back tomorrow after dark at around 8pm."

"You really think we should wait that long?" Sonia inquired.

Sally nodded her head in response, replying, "Yes… this way at least, you'll have time to get your personal belongings in order and do whatever else needs to be taken care of."

Manic then said with a look of disappointment. "Aw, all right then. I guess its better this way. Most of my stuff isn't in this house anyhow."

A few seconds later Sonia's foster Mom, Lady Windimire finally came in and said, "Sonia dear, It's time for your brother to" Windimire then saw Sonic and Sally and said, "Excuse me, may I ask what you're doing in my home?"

"Oh, hello." Sally said. "We're friends of Manic and Sonia."

"I see. I don't think I've seen you two around before."

"No, this is our first time here." Sonic answered.

"Really? Then how can you be friends of them when they've never left the shelter?"

"You see, ma'am," Sally explained, "Sonic is their long lost brother, and we've come to take them back to Knothole."

"What? Just like that, without even asking me or Ferrel? I consider that very rude." Lady Windimire stated firmly.

"Hey, c'mon, lady." Sonic said with a frown. "I think it should be up to my sibs. And besides, it was my mother's wish for them to be with me in Knothole."

Lady Windimire then said with a huff, "Well, I never! Who taught you manners, you blue hedgehog?"

"The pig colony if you ask me." Bartleby remarked.

Sonia again shot him a dirty look as Lady Windimire added after a brief pause, "Nevertheless, in spite of that, I'll agree with you on the fact that it should indeed be their decision. So, Sonia, tell me, do you want to go with them?"

"Yes, Miss Windimire," Sonia replied. "I want to go with Sonic and help the Freedom Fighters bring peace back to Mobius."

Windimire sighed heavily and said saddened, "Very well then. I had a feeling one day you might leave the shelter. She then turned to Sonic and Sally and asked, "Would it be too much to request one last day with Sonia before you take her with you to Knothole?"

"Sure," Sally replied. "We were planning to do that anyway since we don't want to rush this operation and have it go wrong."

"Thank you, my dear."

"So, you going get your foster Dad's permission too, Manic man?" Sonic asked.

"Yea, I'll ask him." The green hedgehog replied. "And even if he says no, I'm going anyway. Besides, I'm getting tired of living with a thief."

"Whoa, you live with a thief?" Sonic asked perplexed.

"Yea, but hey, it wasn't entirely a waste. I've got some good thieving and hacking skills out of it at least that can help the cause."

Sally now looked at him awkwardly, commenting, "Well, I suppose they could come in handy in the right situation."

"All right then," Sonic stated firmly. "It's settled. Meet us near the entrance tomorrow at 8pm sharp."

"You got it, bro." Manic said, giving a thumbs up.

Before they left, Sonic hugged his siblings goodbye. Since Sally had just got reacquainted with the two hedgehogs, she just waved at them before leaving.

"Nice meeting you, Princess." Manic said, waving back

"Call me Sally, Manic." The squirrel princess reiterated. "No need for royal titles among friends."

"Ok then. Later, Sally."

After they left Lady Windimire's home, Sonia inquired of Bartleby, "Now, what were you about to say about Knothole…?"

Meanwhile outside, Sonic commented, "You know, for sibs, they're pretty cool."

"Yea, I guess so." Sally replied.

Sonic and Sally then returned to the entrance of the shelter with Cyrus waiting for them

"So, is everything set?" Cyrus asked

"Yep, it's all ready to go." Sonic replied. "Tomorrow night at 8, we'll come by to get them."

"Very well then. Be careful you two."

"We will." Sally said with assurance.

Cyrus then opened the entrance and prepared to let them out. But before they did, Sally inquired of the lion leader, "By the way, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"What is it?"

"What was the name of that virus program you made for Sonic's Mom?" Sally asked with curiosity.

"Oh that? Well, since we're fighting for freedom, I decided to name it Freedom Fighters, as the virus has the potential to finally end the tyranny of Robotnik's regime. Why do you ask?"

Sonic and Sally gasped and said together, "The file on Nicole!"

"Sonic, we've had it all this time. Do you know what this means?"

"Yea, it means we can finally kick old needle nose right on his small behind!"

"Well, more or less. Cyrus, are there any updates for this virus?"

"No need for them, Princess. This program is one of a kind. Nothing can prevent the havoc it can bring on a computer system, at least not yet."

"Way cool." Sonic said, giving a thumbs up.

"Good thing we didn't open that file." Sally commented, sighing relieved.

"Anyway, you better get back home." Cyrus said. "Who can for sure Snively and his goons aren't close by and listening in?"

"Good thinking, let's go." Sonic said firmly.

After they were back on the top level, the secret passageway returned to its camouflaged appearance.

Sally then commented to Sonic, "Well, at least we were able to find your siblings without too much difficulty."

"Yea, I'm glad it all worked out too." Sonic replied.

Moments later, the blue hedgehog glanced over at the squirrel Princess for her to jump in his arms in order for them to take off.

However, he soon saw her in deep thought, as he asked of her, "You all right, Sal?"

"Huh? Oh yea, I'm fine." Sally replied quickly, now snapping to attention.

"You sure about that?" Sonic asked with arched eyebrows.

"Yea, don't worry about it. It's silly mostly." Sally explained with a sheepish smile.

Sonic however had an inkling what it could be, commenting, "You're thinking about Elias again, aren't you?"

"What? No, no, don't be silly." Sally answered with awkwardness. "I'm slowly coming to terms with it now."

"C'mon, you can tell me." Sonic reiterated. "I am your best childhood friend after all."

Sally again was silent, as she soon said with a heavy sigh, "Well, I was just thinking… it would have been nice to have a sibling to share my life with like you do now. I hate to say it, but I kind of envy you somewhat."

Sonic now felt sympathetic towards the squirrel Princess, putting a hand on her shoulder, replying, "I understand. But, in a way, you do kind of already have a sibling styled relationship."

"You mean with Bunnie?"

"Yea, who else, Sal?"

"Well, while that is true a little bit, it's not exactly the same." Sally explained with hesitance.

"What about Nicole?" Sonic inquired.

"She's a super computer." Sally reiterated. "And yes, we are close, but it's not exactly the same thing as having a real brother or sister like you do."

Sonic thankfully did understand why Sally felt a little envious inside. He then said to try and make her feel better, "Don't let it get to you much, Sal. Even if you don't have any brothers and sisters like me, you're still deeply loved by me and all of us at Knothole."

After hearing that, Sally couldn't help but smile at him. She then gave him a kiss on the right cheek, saying passionately, "Thanks for being so sweet, Sonic hedgehog."

Sonic slightly blushed at her affection, replying, "Anytime, Sal. Anytime…"

After a long pause, Sonic said firmly, "So, let's head back to Knothole, shall we?"

"Right."

Once Sally jumped in his arms, she asked him, "Now you do remember how to open the door again when we come by tomorrow, right?"

"No prob, Sal. Just pluck the flower that doesn't look real. You worry too much."

"Well, we are dealing with a ruthless tyrant, don't forget." The squirrel princess reiterated.

"Trust me, Sal. It won't be too long before we kick Snobley outta power for good."

Sally sighed and commented, "As much as I like your enthusiasm, you're being too reckless again with your pride. Anyway, we can talk about that later. Right now, we need to get this information back to the others at once.

"Right." Sonic said, "Hold on, Sal. We're juicing!"

Unfortunately though after they sped off, one of Snively's spy orbs instantly came lurking out of the tree. It had picked up the whole conversation

"So…" Snively said, rubbing his hands together, "They found a secret shelter, eh? Well, this is just too sweet. I must thank them personally for revealing it to me.

Snively then said after rotating his chair 180 degrees, "By this time tomorrow, my army will sweep in there and take everyone prisoner. And if those rotten Freedom Fighters try and stop me, I'll use their roboticized family members as a shield to put them in a catch-22, literally! They may have outsmarted me the last time I tried that strategy, but when they see what I have in store for them this time around, they'll be begging for mercy! AH HA AH HA!


	4. The Ambush

Chapter 4: The Ambush

The following morning in Sally's hut, The Princess addressed the team about her and Sonic's experience in the East Mobius Shelter.

"Last night, we went to the shelter and met Sonic's siblings, Manic and Sonia. As it turns out, they have shown much interest in joining our team of Freedom Fighters. So, I've got a plan and bring them here post haste."

Bunnie then stood up and said with a smile, "Oh mah stars, that is so awesome! So what was it like being reunited with your brother and sister, Sugarhog?"

Sonic shrugged his shoulders and said, "Hey, what can I say, they were way past cool."

Sally of course groaned at his answer.

"Is your brother as cute as you are?" the cyborg rabbit asked.

"Nah, not quite. Oh, he's good looking, Bunnie, but nobody's in my class." Sonic bragged.

Sally then cleared her throat and said, "Sonic, you can talk about how cool your siblings are later. Right now, we need to get a plan ready to go."

"Aw c'mon, Sal, how hard will it be to bring my bro and sis here? Should be as easy as cake."

"Yes, it should be, but what if we run into trouble, Sonic? And who's to say we weren't spotted last night by one of Snively's spy orb?"

"Relax. After all, the hedgehog knows when trouble approaches."

Sally groaned again and replied, "All I'm saying is that we need to go in there heavily armed just to be on the safe side. We can't afford to make any mistakes on this mission or we'll compromise the shelter's security."

"So, what's the plan, Sally girl?" Bunnie inquired with curiosity.

"The plan is, Sonic and I will go in and bring them out. The rest of you will stand 100 ft away and be the lookouts. If you see any signs of Snively and the Swatbots, radio it in ASAP. Any questions?"

"Yes, my Princess." Antoine replied, raising his hand. "Did anyone ever tell you that you are even beautiful when you are"

Antoine didn't even get to finish his question as Bunnie smacked him on the back of the head with her metal hand. This time, a bit harder though.

"OW! Why did you hit me? Zat was uncalled for!" He demanded, massaging his neck.

"Ant, for the last time, when Sally asks if you have any questions, she means about the mission!"

The French coyote then started muttering to himself about being unfairly disciplined for just trying to win the Princess' heart.

Sally cleared her throat again a few seconds later and said, "If you're done talking to yourself, Antoine, I'll continue.

Once he quieted down, Sally said, "We leave here at 8pm on the dot. Before we go however, we'll need to get prepared. Rotor, you and Sir Charles go to your workshop and start building more grenades, smoke and pipe bombs.

"Got it." Rotor replied

"Bunnie, once they're done with that, I want you and Antoine to bring the ammo to the entrance of Knothole."

"Can do, Sally girl."

"What do you want me to do?" Sonic asked

"I want you and Tails go on a spying mission in Robotropolis to make sure he isn't aware of our plans."

"Are you sure you trust me with an assignment that big, Aunt Sally?" Tails asked. "What about my training?"

"You can finish your training when you get back, honey. Right now, I want to see how much you've learned from spending time with Practice Freedom Fighter Squad."

"No problem." The two tailed foxed said confidently. "I won't let you down."

"Yea, Tails and I will really give old needle nose a mondo headache if he dares to try anything funny." Sonic reiterated firmly.

"Sonic, please don't do anything reckless. Just go there and keep a close watch. Report back as soon as you get any info on his plans." Sally replied, walking over and handing him a walkie talkie.

"Got it, Sal." Sonic replied, putting the walkie talkie in his backpack. He then looked at his two tailed fox friend and asked, "Ready to go, big guy?"

"You bet, Sonic."

All right then, let's race, ace!"

And with those words, Sonic and Tails speeded out of the hut. Before they were out of range however, Sally shouted to them, "Be careful, you two!"

She quickly turned back to the team and said, "All right, everyone, meeting dismissed. Time to get to work on the double!"

The Freedom Fighters quickly left the hut and did just that. But Bunnie stayed behind and asked, "What you going to be doing, Sally girl?"

"For now, I'm going to stay in here and monitor Sonic's mission. When he radios in, I'll be his contact."

"All right then, holler if you need anything." Bunnie said, heading for the door.

"Will do, Bunnie."

Meanwhile, Snively was instructing the Swatbot army of his plan to overtake the East Mobius Shelter.

"At 5pm this evening, we'll overrun those rebels and bring them here to be roboticized. Any questions?"

When none spoke up, he added, "Good, now move out and prepare to leave. Also make sure that rotten hedgehog doesn't get any hint of this. It must be done fast and secretly. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." The Swatbots answered

"Excellent, now go!"

The Swatbots instantly obeyed and left Snively's main quarters. After they were gone, he said chuckling evilly, "Oh, this will be sweet revenge indeed. I'll finally have a leg up on that rotten hedgehog after I've turned that precious shelter he found into a wasteland! Heh, heh."

10 minutes later, Sonic and Tails stopped on a hill near Robotropolis.

"Now remember to stay close by, Tails." Sonic instructed. "Swatbutts are everywhere."

"Sure thing, Sonic."

"So, you ready to have a little fun with old Snurvley, bud?"

Tails giggled and answered, "Yea, let's really push his buttons."

Sonic and Tails then quickly ran ahead and hid behind a pile of junk.

"Ok, bud, watch this." Sonic said.

But before he could blast off, his radio started beeping.

"Doh man, who's calling me now?" the blue hedgehog asked with a groan.

Sonic pressed the button and said, "What's up?"

"Just checking in to make sure you arrived safely." Sally replied.

"We're fine, Sal. You seem to forget who you're talking to. There's nothing me and Tails can't handle together."

"Sonic, you're being too reckless again, as usual."

"Look, Sal, we really need to maintain radio silence for now. Tails and I are near Snively's headquarters and might get spotted by his metal heads if we make too much noise."

"Very well then, promise me you'll radio in the first minute you find out about Snively's latest scheme."

"Will do, Sal. Over and out."

Sonic immediately turned off the radio and peeked around the corner to see if they were any robots watching them.

"Hmm, that's odd. There's only three Swatbutts and two Hover Heads out here guarding the entrance. Snurvley must be up to something big. Let's go, Tails."

As they sped off however, neither realized a spy orb hiding near the junk pile nearby had picked up the whole conversation between him and Sally.

"So…" Snively said, rubbing his hands together, "the hedgehog's coming to spy on me, eh? Well, I'll certainly give him a story he can't possibly turn down. Heh heh."

Moments later, Sonic and Tails made their move, walking up to a Swatbot and waving at it.

"Priority one, Hedgehog!" The Swatbot shouted, showing its laser gun. "Surrender and don't move!"

"What do you think, Tails? Think we ought to comply?" Sonic asked with a smirk

Tails of course shook his head no, which caused the Swatbot to fire his laser at them, but missed as they both dodged it with ease.

When hover units soon approached with sirens blaring, Sonic said, "Love to stick around, but we gotta juice!"

And with those words, he and the two tailed fox blasted off and headed west.

The Swatbots and hover units quickly followed in hot pursuit saying, "Apprehend Freedom Fighters, do not destroy!"

While they were being chased, Sonic commented with a grin, "You'd think old needle nose would update their speech capability for a change."

"Maybe he's not smart enough to." Tails replied laughing

Sonic then led Snively's troops on a wild goose chase, running all over Robotropolis to try and lose them. When that didn't work, he and Tails hid behind a large piece of metal near the junk heap. As expected, they went right by without even stopping.

"It never fails." Sonic said chuckling "C'mon, T2, let's get inside the base."

The two of them quickly ran back to the base's doors, where they were greeted by more Swatbots commanding them to halt while pointing their weapons at their heads.

"You guys never learn, do you?" Sonic asked, shaking his head. "Oh well, it's time for you all to go on a Sonic whirlwind tour!"

Instantly, Sonic spun around at 360 degrees, causing a huge tornado to appear. The Swatbots went flying into the air and landed with a thud in pieces.

Tails at the time was twenty feet ft away and not affected by Sonic's attack in the least.

Seconds later, Snively banged his armrest while watching his monitors. "Those metallic fools! Can't they do anything right? Ah, no matter. I'll let them get in this time. But I better not make it too easy."

Snively then pressed a button on his computer, which showed a Swatbot on camera.

"Yes, sir?"

"Send a dozen Swatbots into the main headquarters entrance at once!"

"Affirmative."

Meanwhile, Tails was cracking the code on the main doors.

"How's it coming?"

"Patience, Sonic." The 2 tailed fox replied, tinkering with the keypad on wall. "This is not an easy system to break into."

"Patience is not one of my virtues." Sonic commented, tapping his foot.

Ten seconds later, Tails finally unlocked the code. "Yes! We're in, Sonic!"

"Cool."

But unfortunately, the moment the doors opened up, the dozen Swatbots Snively had requested now stood in front of them with weapons aimed at their heads.

"Not again." The blue hedgehog muttered with a groan

"Surrender," one ordered as they all pointed their weapons at them

"In your dreams, metal heads!" Sonic shouted.

Sonic then used his triple spin attack, knocking down the Swatbots like bowling pins.

"C'mon, Tails!"

The two tailed fox quickly made his past the stunned bots on the floor and then stood next to Sonic.

"Ok, jump into my backpack, lil bro. Things are gonna get dicey from here!"

"Got it." Tails replied

After he climbed inside, the Swatbots got back on their feet, pointing their weapons at them both.

"Surrender!" The Swatbots ordered again.

"Don't you guys ever say anything else?" Sonic asked sarcastically. "I guess not, see ya!"

Sonic instantly blasted off while the Swatbots chased him firing multiple laser shots in rapid succession.

"Do you think we should have a gotten a Power Ring before we left?" Tails asked while Sonic was running.

"Don't need one, big guy." The blue hedgehog replied. "We'll save that for tonight when we visit the East Mobius Shelter."

While this was going on, Snively was tracking their every move via the building's security cameras

"Yes, that's right, hedgehog. Right this way. When you invade my quarters, I'll have a big surprise waiting for you."

Snively then began checking the cameras where they would soon be entering. "Ah ha, of course. There's an air duct up ahead. Now to recall the guards."

Moments later, Tails said pointing up ahead, "Sonic, look. An air duct."

"Cool," Sonic said, grinding his shoes to a halt. "We better move fast with those tin heads on our heels."

Once they attempted to pull it out, Snively pressed a button that commanded the Swatbots chasing them to withdraw and head back.

Sonic and Tails struggled to pull the cover of the air duct off, but it was sealed tight.

"Drat!" the blue hedgehog shouted. "It won't budge!"

"Wait, I've got an idea." Tails said, reaching inside Sonic's backpack. Moments later, he pulled out a pipe bomb.

"Whoa, where did you get that?" Sonic asked a bit in shock.

"I brought it along with us incase we needed some fire power." Tails replied.

"Nice thinking, big guy. Care to do the honors?"

"With pleasure," the two tailed fox answered, tossing it at the duct swiftly

The pipe bomb hit the air duct directly in the middle, exploding with intensity on contact. As a result, it put a big hole in it, even making a lot of smoke billow around the area too.

Once the smoke cleared, Sonic said while giving him a high five. "Way cool move, Tails."

The two of then quickly made their way inside and traveled upwards.

Little did they realize however, Snively immediately sent of his special spy orbs inside the air duct as well to track their progress.

As Sonic and Tails continued to make their way closer to Snively's main quarters, a bad feeling came over the blue hedgehog. So much that he stopped walking

"The air duct to Snively's room is just ahead." Tails announced.

But when he saw Sonic stopped, he walked back towards him and asked, "Something wrong?"

"I don't know, T2, but I got this feeling something ain't right. I mean, those Swatbutts haven't even ran past the air duct we went inside.

"Well, maybe they got lost or something." Tails replied trying to come up with an explanation

Sonic however didn't buy that theory one bit. He even had a bad feeling inside that Snively was setting them up in a trap.

Fortunately for Snively though, the spy orb had picked up his words of suspicion.

"That blasted hedgehog! Why must he always be so distrusting of my battle tactics?"

After giving it some thought, Snively pressed a button on his monitors.

"Yes, sir?"

"Send twelve Swatbots to Sector 5 and fill the air duct full of tear gas after it has been repaired. Also seal off all the vents in the building except for the one above my quarters."

"Will do, sir."

Instantly, the Swatbots arrived at Sector 5 and repaired the hole in the wall quickly. While two of them were doing that, another pressed a button and sealed off all the air ducts as Snively requested. Then they began to pour massive amounts of tear gas into a small hole they drilled on the repaired air duct. Within seconds, the whole area inside began to be filled with gas. So much in fact, it even began to fill around where Sonic and Tails were walking.

"Sonic, look!" Tails shouted, pointing behind them

When the blue hedgehog saw it coming too, he grabbed his two tailed friend by the arm and made a serious run for it. While he was running, he noticed the other air ducts were sealed off. Sonic now knew instantly they had been discovered.

"What do we do, Sonic?" Tails asked with fear in his voice.

"I don't know," Sonic replied still running, "But there's gotta be a way out of here."

Moments later while running, Tails said, "Look."

Sonic stopped, and discovered the air duct above Snively's quarters wasn't blocked off.

"All right, we're here." the 2 tailed fox said enthusiastically.

Sonic though was very suspicious. "Something's not right here, Tails. Its like he wants us to go to his room."

"I don't think we have time to argue about that." Tails said, pointing ahead.

Indeed he was right, as the gas was filling in from all sides.

Since there was no where else to go, Sonic said sighing in defeat, "Oh, all right. Stand back, Tails!"

The blue hedgehog quickly did his triple spin attack, cutting through the bars. Once that was done, he and Tails quickly jumped down into Snively's quarters just moments from being infected by the tear gas.

After they landed on the ground, Snively turned around in his chair and pretended to be surprised to see them.

"Ah! What are you two doing in here?" he demanded

"Enough games, Snurvley! What are you up to?"

"None of your business, blue boy!"

"Oh, is that so? Well, perhaps you need to go for a spin then, needle nose!"

Sonic instantly ran up and spun him around in his chair at 360 degrees with blazing speed

While he was screaming around, Sonic and Tails went to his main computer and tried to access his files. But unfortunately, it was heavily encrypted.

"Drat!" Tails shouted "I guess we're going to need Snively's help to get the files."

"No prob, lil bro."

Sonic then ran up to the chair and immediately brought it to a halt using his shoes as friction to slow it down.

"You rotten Freedom Fighters!" Snively shouted with his eyes still spinning. "You won't get away with this!"

"Want to bet?" the blue hedgehog dared. "Now give us the code to access your secret files or else!"

"Or else what, rodent?"

"Or else we'll be playing another round of spin the chair!" Sonic reiterated with a fierce glare.

Snively pretended to be infuriated at his threat and quickly replied with a frown, "Very well then…"

He then gave them the encryption password, thus enabling the 2 Freedom Fighters to look at the secret files.

As Sonic and Tails began to look at them, the two tailed fox commented ten seconds later, "According to this, Snively was going to launch an all out attack on the Wolf Pack and take over their land."

"So, trying to weaken our core of Freedom Fighters eh, Snurvley? Nice try, but your plans will fail now that we got the inside scoop."

Snively continued his act as he gritted his teeth at the blue hedgehog. "You miserable rodent! I'll make you… "

"Put a cork in it, needle nose! It's over. Tails, put those files on a CD and let's juice!"

"What are we going to do about him?" Tails asked.

"Simple." Sonic pulled some rope out of his backpack and tied Snively up nice and tight in his chair.

Once the ropes were securely fastened and Tails put the files on a CD, Sonic took the disk and put it in a protective case. Then he stored it in his backpack, saying, "All right then, T2, Let's race!"

Sonic and Tails instantly ran out of the room while Snively shouted with rage, "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU BAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDD!"

Once they were out of sight however, Snively used his nose to press a button.

"Yes, sir?"

"Get a Swatbot in here at once to untie me!"

"Right away, sir…"

After he was loosed from the chair, Snively rubbed his hands with an evil grin on his face. "Looks like I've taken you for a ride this time, hedgehog! And the best part is, they still have no idea of my plans to overrun that shelter. Tonight, Snively the great will finally put a dent in the Freedom Fighter's stronghold! Ah Ha Ha Ha!"

After Sonic and Tails arrived at the same hilltop near Robotropolis, Sonic radioed in. "Sal, do you read me?"

"This is Sally, what's up?"

"Mission accomplished, Sal. Tails and I got Snively's secret file plans and are now heading back to Knothole."

"Good job, guys!" Sally said excited.

"See, I told you Snively's army was no match for us." The blue hedgehog bragged

"Sonic, please don't that. We've still got too much work ahead of us."

"Yea, yea, I know. See you soon, Sal."

Ten minutes later, Sonic and Tails arrived back at Knothole, when they then headed inside Sally's hut to show her the files.

"Here are the plans, Sal." Sonic said, handing her the disk

"Thanks, you two." Sally said, giving them both a kiss on the cheek.

Tails of course rubbed it off in embarrassment.

"Nicole, access the files on the CD."

"Accessing, Sally." Nicole replied

Once they were on display, Sally commented, "Hmm, so tomorrow he's planning to overtake the Wolf Pack and steal their land. Strange, I wonder why he would need his entire army to take them down. I mean, there're not even twenty five of them left."

"You think it smells, Sal?"

"I don't know, Sonic. I just find this whole plan a bit… suspicious."

Sonic soon put a hand under to his chin to think, saying, "Yea, now that you mention it, Sal it does seem a bit weird to have the whole Robotropolis army attack a small group like the Wolf Pack. What should we do then?"

"Well, we might as well play it safe, Sonic. I mean, no harm in alerting them in case it really is true."

"Good thinking."

Sally instantly wrote a letter informing the Wolf Pack of the supposed all out attack by Snively and then sent it to them by a robotic messenger pigeon.

After it flew out the window, Tails asked concerned, "You really think Snively baited us, Aunt Sally?"

"I don't know, honey." She replied shaking her head. "I just don't know…"

"We'll worry about that later." Sonic said. "Right now, we need to get ready to leave tonight for the East Mobius Shelter."

"You're right, Sonic."

"As always, Sal." He bragged again.

Sally groaned and put a hand on her forehead. Some things apparently never changed.

As evening approached, Snively and his army made their move.

Once they arrived at the flowerbed, Snively said, "Hmm, according to those Freedom Fighters on opening the shelter, they said to pluck the daisy that doesn't look real. What does that mean anyway? Oh well, better get started."

Snively immediately began to inspect each daisy at a time. As with the Sonic and Sally, he too had a hard time figuring it out. With every passing minute, his patience grew thinner and thinner.

"Blasted security! I must give them a lot of credit on how they've stayed undetected for so long."

Snively was tempted to ask the Swatbots to help him, but then he realized they would more than likely screw up and make his access to the shelter impossible.

Finally thirty minutes later, he found a daisy that looked odd.

"Hmm, a yellow daisy with blue specks on top? This can't be right. Then I guess that means… This must the one!"

Snively quickly pulled it up and waited for the secret passageway to open up. When it didn't right away, he said furrowing his brow, "What? Don't tell me they changed the code on here!"

After waiting ten seconds, Snively was now ready to have his army blow a hole in the ground to find it. But before he could give the command, the ground began to shake.

"What in Mobius is going on?" he pondered, trying to keep from falling over

Suddenly, a hole in the ground appeared near the flowerbed, revealing a staircase.

"YES!" Snively shouted with glee. "Follow me at once!" He ordered his army

"Yes, sir."

But they too soon discovered the darkness ¼ of the way down the stairs, forcing them to halt.

"Hmm, so using a lack of vision as a security mechanism, eh? No matter. Swatbot #1, get a light in here so we can see where we're going."

"Yes, sir."

The Swatbot instantly used his laser on a stick he had found outside, turning it into a torch.

After the Swatbot handed it to Snively, he ordered his army, "Stick together, and prepare for any other traps they may have for intruders!"

"Yes, sir."

Fortunately for the small dictator, the torch provided more than enough light for them while they made their way down the long staircase.

two minutes later, Snively saw a door ahead.

But before he stepped off the final step on the stairs, he stopped and commented to himself, "More then likely that grass ahead of us is heavily booby trapped. Swatbots, fire your lasers at the ground to test it!"

"Yes, sir!"

Several Swatbots quickly began firing all around the ground. As Snivley had thought, more than three traps activated instantly. One was a tear gas bomb that filled the whole room, another was mega muck cleverly hidden on the ground on the right side. There was even one that revealed a trap where the left part of the floor had a huge hole covered with sticks and grass. And then finally of course, the trap that had captured Sonic and Sally stood a few feet ahead of where Snively now stood.

Snively was very impressed at the defenses of this place. "The leader of this place is good, but not good enough! All right Swatbots, blast the doors down!"

"Yes, Sir."

Instantly, the Swatbots tossed several dozen grenades at the door, resulting it exploding on contact, eventually blasting the door down.

"What in blazes?" Cyrus said came running in

"SURPRISE!" Snively shouted with a laugh

"YOU? GET THEM!" The lion ordered his guards

His guards quickly ran up and began firing at the Swatbots. Snively's troops soon returned fire, making the guards hide the wall behind to avoid being hit by the lasers and then continued to shoot.

"Hit them with mega muck bombs!" Cyrus ordered

Cyrus' guards did just that and heaved multiple bombs at the Swatbots and hover units, trapping more than a dozen in its sticky substance

Snively's facial expression instantly changed to one of rage. "Use the stun guns on them, you morons!"

The Swatbots quickly changed weapons and rapidly fired the stun beams at the guards. Slowly but surely, the plan was working since Snively had more Swatbots than they could handle.

Within two minutes, the guards and Cyrus were all hit by the beams and quickly subdued.

After they were taken care of, Snively ordered his robot soldiers, "Now set fire to the place to smoke them out!"

The Swatbots immediately complied, throwing grenades at the buildings around the shelter and then used their lasers on the grass to make it ignite

Within seconds, the citizens of the shelter began to panic and run for their lives while the flames and smoke bellowed all around them.

Cream, who was playing with a rubber ball at the time with Big, saw what was going on and ran back to her home in a terrible fright with the large white and purple cat in tow.

Once she was inside, she clutched tightly to her Mother's leg.

"Cream, what's wrong?" Vanilla asked concerned

"Evil robots have discovered the shelter!" the young rabbit cried out.

Seconds later, 2 Swatbots crashed through her front door and said loudly, "You are now prisoners of Snively the great!"

Vanilla gasped in horror as she saw they were completely surrounded. There would be no escape.

Big then tried to fend them off with his strength to try and help Cream and his Mom escape, but it was sadly in vain. Instead, they captured him in a large net before he could even punch one Swatbot to the ground.

Meanwhile, one of the grenades hit Bert's Chili Dog stand, causing major structural damage to the building, forcing Bert Whoo and Roxy to evacuate. But they couldn't get far as several Swatbots and hover units quickly surrounded them.

"You are under arrest!" A Swatbot ordered

"Over my dead body!" Bert Whoo yelled, taking Roxy by the hand and trying making a run for it.

Unfortunately, it was all for naught. Within seconds, a Swatbot fired an electromagnetic net on top of them, easily trapping them underneath.

While this was going on, Manic and Sonic, along with Bartleby came running out of their homes to see what the commotion was. In an instant, they all gasped in horror. Their shelter was being completely destroyed right in front of their eyes.

"How did he find us?" Manic asked perplexed

"Never mind that," Sonia replied, "We've gotta stop them!"

"By ourselves? You're joking right, sis?"

When Sonia gave him a serious look, Manic sighed and said, "Fine, let's do this."

"You both are crazy." Bartleby stated. "We don't stand a chance at stopping these machines."

Sonia now gave him the look too, replying, "Bartleby, if you really love me, you'll hunker down and fight for our freedom!"

"But, I…"

"I'm not going to argue with you anymore." The female hedgehog reiterated sharply. "I've got a job to do, and I suggest you do the same."

And with the statement, the green hedgehog grabbed his hover board and began to fly towards them while Sonia ran on foot.

Not surprisingly, Bartleby half heartedly followed after them, but at a safe distance in order to keep from getting in the line of fire.

Back on the other side, the Swatbots were rounding up the citizens of the shelter with ease. 75% of them were now caught in their nets and helpless to escape.

"Oh, this is too easy!" Snively commented with a laugh. "These fools are no match for my army!"

"That's what you think, Shorty!" Sonia shouted running towards him

"What the..."

In an instant, Sonia knocked Snively flat on his back with a karate kick aimed directly underneath his chin.

As he struggled to get up, Snively said to her while rubbing his chin seething inside, "Why you little… You dare resist me, rodent?"

"I'm not letting you take this shelter without a fight, needle nose!" she retorted boldly.

"Needle nose?" He then took a good look at Sonia and thought, _somehow, her appearance reminds of that blue hedgehog! Could she be related to him?_

Snively though composed himself a split second later and ordered his Swatbots, "Get her!"

The Swatbots instantly fired their lasers at her, but missed. Sonia then used her martial arts skills and knocked two of them to the ground with her feet. Moments later, seveen Swatbots surrounded her in a circle.

"Oh, you want to play huh?" Sonia said boldly. "Well, try this one for size!"

Sonia quickly used her special spin attack to bust right through them, knocking several of them backwards.

"Stop fooling around and trap her!" Snively ordered enraged

Moments later while she was still spinning, two hover units then came flying in and grabbed her with their mechanical hands from behind.

"Hey, let me go, bolt brains!" Sonia shouted, struggling to get free

"Shut up, missy!" Snively ordered her. "I must admit, you're pretty brave to take on my army alone, but extremely stupid as well! Put her in the net at once!"

"Yes, sir."

But before they could, both hover units were each hit by a bomb from above, putting them out of commission. After they crashed to the ground in a heap, Sonia quickly escaped from the wrecked machines.

"What the heck?" Snively said angrily looking up.

"Hey, mind if I have a turn with your toys?" Manic asked while hovering overhead.

As it turned, the green hedgehog had borrowed some ammo from Cyrus' supply room and used it to his advantage.

Snively instantly pointed at the green hedgehog and ordered the Swatbots, "Blast him to bits!"

"Yes, sir."

The Swatbots rapidly fired laser shots in consecutive fashion at Manic's hover board, but missed again and again. Sonia then gave her brother a hand and knocked down 3 more Swatbots to the ground with several perfectly executed karate kicks to their metallic chests.

"Why you little…" Snively now ran up to her from behind and grabbed Sonia by her shoulders.

As she struggled to get free, Snively said to her with arrogance, "Resistance is futile, hedgehog!"

"In your dreams, bozo!" Sonia responded with a sharp kick to his groin, forcing Snively to let her go and clutch himself in pain.

Seeing there were too many to fight, Sonia said to Manic, "We can't do this alone. let's get Sonic and the Freedom Fighters' help at once!"

"Right, sis."

Manic then came in low to pick up her sister. Once he was in range, Sonia grabbed the hover board by its edges since there was no room for her to climb onto.

"Hang on, Sonia." Manic said, putting the board on max speed.

Sadly, their escape was short lived. Snively saw them bolting for the exit and grabbed one of the stun guns from a Swatbot. With one precise shot, he hit the green hedgehog from behind with a stun beam, causing Manic to lose control of his hover board and crash to the ground near the entrance of the shelter. Sonia was forced to let go of it as well, also hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

While they struggled to get up, Snively walked up to them and said boldly, "So much for you heroics, rodents! Take them prisoner!" he ordered his Swatbots

Once the two hedgehogs were trapped inside the net, Sonia said to Manic with her head down, "We're in big trouble."

An hour later, Sonic and all the Freedom Fighters from Knothole arrived at the daisy flowerbed near the East Mobius Shelter

"Ok guys," Sally instructed the others. "Stay hidden close behind the trees. If any of Snively's forces show up, radio us in immediately."

"Will do, Sally girl."

Once they were in position, Sally quickly found the daisy and pulled it up. As before, the ground opened up, revealing the staircase. Sonic and Sally soon made their way down the stairs to bring Manic and Sonia out.

While they were down there, Antoine asked, "You think they'll be back soon?"

"Who knows?" Bunnie replied. "But we got stay in position until they do."

A minute later however, the whole Freedom Fighter team heard Sonic and Sally scream in deep horror.

Bunnie then ran near the stood near the staircase and asked them when they were coming out, "What's wrong?"

"The whole place has been trashed!" Sonic shouted in shock. "And all the people inside are gone!"

The entire team gasped once they heard that.

"Even that mondo stone that powered the city was taken too!" he added in disbelief. "I cannot believe this...!"

Sally instantly stomped her foot in disgust, shouting angrily, "I should have known those plans were phony! That maniac completely set us up!"

"Now what do we do?" Tails asked

"Only one thing to do," Sonic replied gritting his teeth. "Go to Robotropolis and make old needle nose pay, in spades!"

"Do… you think they've already been roboticized?" Bunnie inquired with deep concern.

"I don't know," Sonic answered with fierce anger, "But if he did, I'm swear I'm going to…"

"Sonic, there's no point in thinking the worst now." Sally told him firmly. "We may be able to still save them in time."

"I hope so…" The blue hedgehog muttered softly. "Anyway, let's get moving!"

"It's a good thing we went heavily armed." Sally commented a bit relieved. "Otherwise, we would have to turn back to get the weapons."

Sonic then turned to the others and said, "Meet me at the junk heap. I've got some stuff to do."

"Don't be rash, Sonic." Sally warned him. "You just can't go charging in there. Who knows what tricks Snively has up his sleeves this time?"

"Well, at least let me scout out the area." He argued back. "I need something to do to unwind."

Sally sighed and eventually complied with extreme reluctance. "Oh all right, Sonic, go ahead. Just keep a low profile until we arrive all right?"

"Got it, Sal. Time to juice and cut it loose!"

After Sonic rocketed off for the city, Sally said to Dulcy, "We'll need you to get us there as quickly as possible. Can you carry all of us?"

"No problem." The green dragon replied confidently. "Hop on, everyone!"

The rest of the team then climbed aboard Dulcy and held on tight. It would be a snug fit, but just enough room for them.

Once they were all aboard, Dulcy flew high in the air and snapped her tail to give herself a burst of speed. The others soon after held onto the dragon for dear life as Dulcy zipped the through the wind with breathtaking speed.

It was now a race against the clock. Would they be able to save the East Mobius Shelter citizens in time?


	5. The Rescue Operation

Chapter 5: The Rescue Operation

Back at Robotropolis, Snively had begun to start the roboticization of the East Mobius underground citizens. Since there were too many to put in the same room at once, he decided to bring in twenty-five at a time. And to help speed things along, there were three roboticizing chambers in the main roboticizer room, with one in the middle that could fit 2 inside at a time.

Not surprisingly, the first to go were Cyrus and his guards.

"I must say," Snively commented to the lion while he was being put in the roboticizer, "you were really something to stay undetected for as long as you did. But unfortunately, your luck finally ran out." Heh Heh..!"

"Shut up, you short psychopath!" Cyrus fired back. "The only reason you even found my shelter to begin with was because my secret entrance was compromised!"

To Cyrus' surprise, Snively was unmoved by his sharp words, answering cold as ice, "Whatever. Normally I wouldn't let someone talk to me that way, but since you're about to be my robot slave, I've decided to let it slide off my back."

Once the lion was inside, Snively said to him, "Any last words?"

Cyrus then glared at him, replying, "Enjoy your short reign while you can. Sonic and his comrades are going to topple your empire soon enough. And when they do, you're in for a world of hurt."

"Sorry to burst your bubble," Snively retorted with arrogance on his face, "but it's not going to happen! I've got a plan that will put that hedgehog and his band of troublemakers in the palm of my hands."

After a brief pause, Snively ordered his Swatbots firmly, "But enough talk! Start the process!"

"Yes, sir."

Within seconds, the roboticizer was turned on to full power, and began to change Cyrus and his three guards into machines.

Ten seconds later, it was completed. The citizens in line looked on intently, deeply trembling inside.

Snively laughed evilly and said to the roboticized Cyrus after the chamber door opened, "So, who's the boss now?"

"You are, sir." He answered in a monotone voice.

"Good, and don't you ever forget it."

Snively then added to his new roboticized citizens, "Now go, and keep a sharp eye out for those Freedom Fighters!"

"Your wish is our command, sir." They replied simultaneously.

And with those words, they all marched out of the room.

"Ok, who's next?" Snively asked boldly.

Of course, no one volunteered to step forward, which prompted the Swatbots to grab four more citizens and put them in the chambers.

Meanwhile, those who weren't in the room waited their horrible fate inside a prison cell. Among those there were Cream, Cheese, Big and her mother Vanilla.

Cream held onto her mother closely, crying out with a whimper, "What's gonna happen to us, Mom?"

Vanilla tried to comfort her daughter, but she couldn't deny she was just as scared as well.

"It'll be ok, dear." Vanilla said, trying to make Cream feel better. "Someone will come and rescue us, hopefully."

Just then, she heard cackling in the background. It was Scratch, one of the Snively's prison custodians, walking up to their cell.

"Forget about it, rodents!" He said taunting them. "Your fate is sealed! Soon you'll be robotic slaves of Snively the great and do his evil bidding whether you like it or not! Ah ha ha ha!

Cream instantly began to cry louder in despair saying, "No, I don't want to be a robot!"

"Too bad, missy." Grounder said, now taunting them as well. "You have no say in this!"

"Yea," Coconuts added, "You're done for!" Ah Ha Ha Ha!

Vanilla now stepped up to the cage's bars, glaring at them angrily and demanded, "Have you no shame, you monsters? It's bad enough that your boss destroyed our beautiful home and imprisoned us, but I will not allow you to torment my daughter!"

"Oh yea?" Scratch challenged, "And what are you gonna do about it? You're in prison!"

Unfortunately for the three custodian bots, they would soon pay for their bantering. Out of nowhere, Big finally stepped up near the bars, winded his fist back and punched the metal chickening directly between the eyes, knocking him hard into the wall behind him with a serious jolt.

Before Grounder of Coconuts could respond to this, Big grabbed both of their heads and then slammed them together as hard as he could.

Like Scratch, they too fell to the ground in a heap.

The three dumb bots though immediately got up enraged, with Scratch yelling incensed, "Why you big tub of lard… just who do you think you are smacking around like that?"

Big though ignored his protests, declaring boldly to the metal chicken, "Nobody scares my little sister and gets away it!"

"What are you talking about, Fat Cat?" Grounder demanded. "You're not related to them in the least."

"It doesn't matter if I am or not." Big told him sharply. He then pointed to the two rabbits and proclaiming, "They are my family, and if you're going try to hurt my family, then I'm going to hurt you as well!"

"Oh, a tough guy, eh?" Scratch commented with arched eyebrows. "Why I ought to drag you and your precious rodent family out of that jail cell and take you to the front of the robotizing line this very instant for your recent antics."

However, when the metal chicken saw Big glaring at him fiercely, he didn't bother to push it anymore.

He then added with a scoff, "Anyway, enjoy your last moments as pathetic furballs. It won't be too much longer before the Swatbots come to take you away."

"Even if we do end up roboticized," Vanilla said to him, "You and your boss will still lose in the end. Sonic will destroy his precious empire one day."

"Don't count on it, lady." Scratch retorted. "Snively the great has a plan that put him out of commission, permanently! Ah Ha Ha Ha! C'mon guys, let's go and let em wallow in fear for a while!"

After they left, Cream asked her Mom, "Do… you think we'll end up as robots?"

"I don't know, honey, but until it happens, we can't give up hope."

That wasn't much of a comfort to Cream, but it was all she had for now.

Big then knelt down and put a hand on the young rabbit's shoulder, saying to try and keep her composure, "Don't worry, little sister. I, your big brother, will protect you until the end."

Cream's eyes soon welled up in tears, hugging him tightly, as she was deeply touched by the large white and purple cat's support.

Five minutes later, Sonic finally arrived at the hilltop near Robotropolis. After a brief look around the area, he blasted off again and hid behind the junk heap.

There he poked his head out and saw massive numbers of Swatbots and hover units guarding the main building. This was not going to be easy place to break through in the least.

Sonic soon began tapping his foot, waiting for his comrades to arrive.

Ten minutes went by before he finally saw a glimpse of them from behind. The blue hedgehog then sped back and met his friends on top of the hill

"Bout time you got here." Sonic said sharply

"Hey c'mon," Sally argued. "We can't exactly run as fast as you."

"No kidding."

"So what's the situation, Sonic?"

"It's mondo ugly, Sal!" the blue hedgehog stated with disgust. "I've never seen so many Swatbutts and hover heads in all my life. Looks like Snurvley isn't taking any chances this time."

"Let me take a look..." Sally said, pulling out her special infrared binoculars and viewing the area.  
>It was then she saw a horrifying sight.<p>

"What do you see, Sally girl?" Bunnie asked.

"It's Cyrus, and three of his guards. They're already been turned into robot slaves!"

Sonic instantly gritted his teeth in rage and clinched his fists together, muttering with a low hiss, "When I get my hands on old needle nose, I'm gonna…"

"Sonic, control yourself." Sally instructed firmly. "It may be too late now for the four of them, but we can still save the others."

The blue hedgehog then took a deep breath to calm himself down somewhat, replying, "Ok then, what's the plan, Sal?"

"Well, since there are eight of us. Let's split up into three teams. Two teams of two, and one team of three."

"But that's only seven." Sonic reasoned.

"Yes, I'm aware of that." Sally replied. "But since Dulcy's size is a disadvantage inside the building, I'm going to have her stay outside and keep the Swatbots and hover units busy."

"How's she gonna do that?" Tails asked

"Why, with my ice and flame breath of course…" The green dragon replied with confidence.

"Oh yea, I almost forgot."

"Ok, now for the plan…" Sally said gathering the others into a huddle. "Sonic, you and Tails take the left rooms of the main building. If you run into any prisoners, try to rescue them if possible. Bunnie, you along with Rotor and Antoine take the right side. Sir Charles and I will take the middle and attempt to infiltrate Robotnik's main computer."

"How come you're taking my Uncle Chuck instead of me?" Sonic asked a bit perplexed.

"Because, Sonic, I need someone with technical ability to help me utilize this virus I found on your Mom's computer."

When Sally displayed the disk in front of everyone, Bunnie inquired with curiosity, "When in the hoo-haw did you get that?"

"Actually, since last night…" the squirrel princess explained. "Thanks to meeting Cyrus, I discovered I had his lethal virus program when I transferred it to Nicole's hard drive."

"How come you didn't tell about this before, Sally girl?" Bunnie asked with a slight frown.

Sally instantly remembered she forgot to mention that to the team, replying with hesitance. "Sorry, I guess it slipped my mind… I was actually planning to use this on our next mission after we brought Manic and Sonia to Knothole. But since Snively the moron dared to pull this stunt on us, I'm gonna use it tonight instead."

She then added with a fierce glare on her face, "He will pay dearly for desecrating Cyrus' shelter."

"What will that little old virus do?" Bunnie asked with deep intrigue.

"If properly installed, it should cause a complete crash on the main hard drive and hopefully release the hold Snively has on the roboticized citizens." Sally explained. "Once that happens, any advantage that little maniac has over us will be history!"

The cyborg rabbit then held her hands together and exclaimed with glee, "Now that's something I'd love to see!"

"Ok then," Sonic stated firmly, "Time to do it to it, guys."

After they briefly joined hands in a united stance, the three teams then each grabbed a handful of the weapons made earlier in the day and put them in their backpacks.

Once their backpacks were fully loaded, the Freedom Fighters immediately put the plan into action.

"Ok, Dulcy, you're on." Sally instructed.

"Got it. Stand back, everyone." The green dragon warned.

Moments later, Dulcy flew in the air to draw the attention of the Swatbots and Hover units. They quickly saw her above them and shouted with their guns drawn and sirens blaring, "Surrender, don't move."

"I don't think so, morons!" Dulcy retorted.

Instantly, she let loose her ice breath, freezing them right and left.

While Dulcy kept Snively's forces busy outside, the Freedom Fighters made their way for the entrance. But unfortunately, before they could enter the building, the green dragon soon found herself in a serious pickle. There were sadly too many Swatbots and hover units for her to fight by herself. One Swatbot then fired a large electromagnet net from behind while she was preoccupied, trapping her inside, forcing Sonic and the others to halt in their tracks.

"Somebody help me!" Dulcy cried out, struggling to get free.

"Doh, man…" Sonic groaned. "Hold on, Dulcy." The blue hedgehog instantly performed a Sonic whirlwind attack, sending the Swatbots and hover units nearby spinning into a wall.

While Snively's forces were seriously stunned, Sonic managed to cut her free with his triple spin attack. Sally then said to Dulcy afterwards, "Maybe you should go hid behind the junk heap and attack from there. There's too many for you to handle."

"But someone's gotta keep them busy while you infiltrate the place." The green dragon argued.

Sally sighed and then said, "All right fine, Dulcy. But if its gets too dicey for you, I'm ordering to take cover."

"Relax, you worry too much."

Just then, more Swatbots and hover units approached the Freedom Fighters saying, "Intruder Alert! Apprehend Freedom Fighters!"

"You guys get going!" Dulcy told them. "I'll keep these metal morons busy!"

"But, Dulcy..."

"No time to argue, Sal. It's go time." Sonic said

Sally sighed again, and conceded. "All right then, be careful, Dulcy." The squirrel Princess said, entering the building.

Once they were in the building, Sonic said to others, "All right, time to crash Snobley's little party!"

Meanwhile, while Snively was roboticizing more civilians, the alarm blared loudly in the room. A monitor quickly came down and showed the Freedom Fighters were now inside the building.

"So, they've arrived, eh?" he commented rubbing his hands together in glee. "Excellent. Oh, this should be fun to watch. Won't be they surprised to see I can track their every move without them even knowing it... Heh heh!"

Snively then ordered his Swatbots outside the room using a radio, "Apprehend the intruders at once!"

"Yes, sir."

While he was giving this order, the Freedom Fighters split up into three teams as planned and began their operation.

"Stay close to me, T2." Sonic instructed the young fox. "Swatbutts should be on our tail anytime now."

"Will do, Sonic."

As Sonic had thought, five Swatbots came running into the east rooms where they were walking around and quickly surrounded them.

"Priority One Hedgehog! Surrender!" they ordered, pointing laser guns at their heads

"Read my lips, Swatbutts…" Sonic declared boldly. "NEVER!"

Sonic then used another spin attack and knocked them all to the ground in one quick shot.

"Hurry, big guy!"

Tails quickly ran past the stunned Swatbots and stood next to Sonic.

Moments later however, the Swatbots got up and pointed their weapons at them yet again.

"Juice Time!" Sonic shouted, grabbing Tails by the arm and blasting off.

Again, the Swatbots fired their laser guns at them with rapid succession, but thankfully missed due to Sonic's super speed.

Nevertheless, they soon followed behind in hot pursuit.

In the west rooms, Bunnie, Rotor, and Antoine continued to walk around looking for any prisoners to free. But instead, the only thing they found were five Swatbots quickly running in and surrounding them.

"You are under arrest!" One Swatbot declared loudly.

Antoine quickly dropped to the floor in a panic while Rotor froze in place, not sure who to attack first. Bunnie on the other hand though glared at the Swatbots and declared, "In your dreams, ya buffoons!"

The cyborg rabbit quickly grabbed a smoke bomb and used it to blind Snively's forces.

Moments later, Bunnie grabbed Antoine and Rotor with both hands and got them out of harm's way.

Sadly, they couldn't even travel one hundred feet as another three Swatbots came running in blocking their path, pointing their weapons at them.

"Resistance is futile!"

"Y'all are beginning to tick me off!" Bunnie shouted frustrated.

"Please don't hurt us!" Antoine begged the Swatbots, cowering in fear

"Hush up, Ant!" Bunnie scolded harshly. "Be a man for once!"

The three Swatbots instantly let loose a barrage of laser shots, which luckily missed the three Freedom Fighters all by mere inches.

Enraged, Bunnie used her martial arts moves, evading the lasers as she ran and knocking two of them to ground with two well timed flying karate kicks to their metal chests in successive fashion.

"Move it, y'all!" she ordered her comrades while making another run for it. Rotor and Antoine did just that, but not without being chased by the remaining Swatbot from behind.

Ironically, the next room the three of them ended up in was the prison cells area, where Snively had the remaining prisoners awaiting roboticization. There were now less than thirty left in the cells.

"Oh mah stars!" Bunnie exclaimed. "Looks we found the mother lode, y'all… C'mon, let's bust em outta here!"

Unfortunately though, before they could even run up to one cell, the Swatbot that had been chasing them seconds ago finally caught up to them, shooting its lasers at the Freedom Fighters in rapid succession. Antoine screamed as they came close to hitting him, forcing Bunnie to put her nonmetal hand over his mouth.

"This way!" Bunnie shouted to her teammates, running towards an air vent.

However, while the three of them headed for it, Antoine unfortunately tripped over his own feet and fell to the floor in a heap. A Swatbot nearby quickly fired an electromagnetic net, trapping him inside.

The Swatbot then said as he picked him up, "You are now prisoner of Snively the great!"

Bunnie and Rotor attempted to go back and free Antoine, but they soon ran into more trouble of their own, as the same five Swatbots from behind finally caught up to them, soon surrounding them.

"What do we do now?" Rotor asked worried.

Bunnie was trying to think what weapon to use, but they only had nine total: three grenades, four pipe bombs, and two smoke bomb. She knew if she used a pipe bomb to wipe out the Swatbots in front of her, it would more than likely hit Antoine as well, risking serious injury to his body.

Not to mention the chance Snively might just call out more soldiers to take their place was very high too.

While the cyborg rabbit tried to decide what to do, Rotor exclaimed to her in a bit of a panic, "Quick, give me one of those pipe bombs!"

Bunnie immediately did so, and Rotor flung it at two Swatbots, instantly blasting them to bits on contact. However, not even ten seconds passed before two more came running in. It was sadly becoming very clear now that Snively was indeed one step ahead of them.

Things were beginning to look ugly. With their backs against the wall, Bunnie realized they had no choice but to make a run for it. Using another final smoke bomb, she grabbed Rotor by the arm and ran for the air vent while smoke filled the room

"Wait, what about Antoine?" Rotor asked

"We'll have to rescue him later." she replied while dragging him from behind. "If we try and rescue him now, they'll take us prisoner too."

Ironically, the purple walrus couldn't argue with that at all.

The two of them soon made it to the air vent, but found it be sealed tight. Bunnie stood back a couple of feet and threw another pipe bomb at it, blasting a big enough hole for them to go run through.

Nevertheless, when Rotor tried to go through the air vent after Bunnie did, a Swatbot who was not blinded by the smoke, abruptly grabbed him by the leg from behind and tried to take the purple walrus prisoner.

"Bunnie, help me!" he cried out, struggling to get free.

The cyborg rabbit immediately responded, grabbing Rotor's right hand with her metallic arm and pulling it hard as hard as she could without separating his shoulder. Sadly, it was soon turning into an ugly game of tug of war, as neither side budged.

The stalemate sadly didn't last long, as more of Snively's robotic soldiers came running up towards the vent and fired their lasers at her. Now she had no choice but to let go, or risk getting hit.

As soon as she did let go, they apprehended Rotor in another net within seconds.

Two Swatbots then quickly crawled into the vent to incarcerate Bunnie as well. But she wasn't about to let that happen. Instantly, she threw her a pipe bomb directly in their faces, blasting them to pieces

Sadly, that didn't deter them in the least, as two more of them quickly came crawling into the vent within seconds.

Frustrated by their constant assault, Bunnie now let loose a grenade this time. However, she didn't aim directly at them. This time, Bunnie aimed at it at the wall on the right side, causing debris from it to come crumbling down in front of the Swatbots, temporarily blocking their path.

While they tried to clear the debris, she made a run for it to try to lose them.

"Forget about her!" Snively ordered a few seconds later over a video screen. "Get the hedgehog and the Princess for now!"

"Yes, sir."

The Swatbots then quickly turned away and took Antoine and Rotor with them.

Bunnie watched them leave through a small hole in the wall with great concern on her face. She was now down to just one pipe bomb and two grenades.

Would her comrades soon be the next victims of the roboticizer?

As for Sally and Sir Charles, they were forced almost immediately to hide in an air vent after it was discovered that the main computer room was heavily guarded by Swatbots.

Sally was tempted to use the weapons on them, but due to fear of hitting the computer system and damaging it, she knew they wouldn't be able to upload the virus to the hard drive if that happened, thus delaying that part of their mission for another day

"Got any ideas, Sally?" Charles inquired while monitoring the room from the vent.

Sally put a hand on her chin and thought it over. Then she snapped her fingers.

"Of course. We'll need a diversion."

"Who can we get to do that?" the roboticized hedgehog inquired.

"Who else, but your nephew, Sir Charles?"

Charles let out a sly chuckle and commented, "Oh yea… If anyone can make a diversion, he can. But, can you contact him from here?"

"Hmm, perhaps…"

Moments later, Sally instantly remembered something. "Wait, I do have an emergency radio. Maybe I can get a hold of him from it."

While Sonic and Tails were being chased around the East rooms, something rang in his backpack.

"Huh? What's that noise?"

Sonic, being the cool speedster he is, was able to keep running while retrieving the radio.

"Hello?" he answered, still running.

"Sonic, it's Sally."

"Uh, Sal, can I talk to you later? I'm kind of in the middle of something here."

"It's really important, Sonic."

"Oh all right, make it quick."

"We need to clear out the main computer room in the middle of the base."

"And how do you expect me to do that, Sal?"

"Easy, just cause a diversion and lure all the Swatbots out of there."

The blue hedgehog smiled big once he heard that, replying, "Will do, just as soon I'm done with these metal heads behind me."

"Thanks. Good luck, Sonic."

Seeing he couldn't shake the Swatbots, the blue hedgehog quickly came to a halt with Tails soon stopping as well.

"What's wrong?" Tails asked

"I'm getting tired of this game of cat and mouse, lil bro. I say we put these Swatbutts on ice."

"Sounds good to me." Tails commented clinching his fists together. "Let's do it."

Within five seconds, the five Swatbots who were about fifty yards behind them stopped nearby and pointed their laser guns at them.

"Surrender, Priority One Hedgehog!" They ordered

"I don't think so!" the blue hedgehog declared boldly. "Now Tails!"

The two tailed fox then quickly pulled out two pipe bombs and heaved em with all his strength. Like with their comrades before them, once the bombs connected with Snively's robotic army, it exploded violently on contact, blasting four of them into pieces of scrap metal.

Nevertheless, the remaining Swatbot left standing began shooting his lasers at them in rapid succession.

"Oh, so you still want to play rough huh? Well, all you had to do was ask!" Sonic said boldly

However, before he could attack, Tails grabbed his arm and suggested, "Let me have this one, Sonic."

The blue hedgehog was reluctant to let him to, but gave Tails the ok.

The Swatbot continued his assault, firing laser after laser, but the two tailed fox quickly eluded its attack and then knocked it down with a sharp karate kick to the chest.

Sonic was impressed to say the least "Cool moves, bud."

"Thanks. Aunt Bunnie taught em to me."

Tails then finished it off with a grenade directly aimed at its robotic eye, putting it out of commission.

Sonic quickly gave him a high five afterwards and said, Awesome job, Tails."

Seconds later, the two of them made their way to the entrance of the computer room.

"Ok, T2, get ready to juice on my signal."

"Got it, Sonic."

Moments later, Sonic walked into the room nonchalantly and said with a goofy grin on his face, "What's up, metal heads?"

Instantly the Swatbots all turned on him and said with weapons drawn, declaring on full alert, "Priority One Hedgehog!"

"Aw, I'm touched you think so highly of me…" he commented in a mocking tone of voice.

Again, the Swatbots quickly fired their lasers at the blue hedgehog in rapid succession, but missed, as he eluded them with ease thanks to his high agility, jumping to the left and right when they came near him.

"Gotta buzz, cuz! Let's move, Tails!"

And with those words, Sonic and Tails ran out of there at top speed.

As Sally had planned it, all of the Swatbots in the computer room chased after them in hot pursuit.

"Now's our chance, Charles." Sally said.

Within seconds, the two of them came out of the air vent and made their way towards the computer room.

Back in the roboticization chamber, Snively was now wrapping his 3rd wave of roboticizing the underground citizens. Now only eight of them remained in the room. One of the next to be put in the machine was none other than Bert Whoo. His Assistant Roxy, who was standing right behind him, watched in horror as they dragged the green bird over to the roboticizer.

"So, any last words, bird brain?" the small dictator inquired with an icy smile.

"Only that your time is short!" Bert shot back. "Sonic will clean your clock soon enough, you monster!"

"I don't think so. Activate!" Snively ordered

The Swatbot quickly complied, and within ten seconds, another four were turned into robot slaves

Instantly, Roxy looked on in horror, crying out with tears in her eyes, "Bert! NO!"

Snively laughed at her despair with glee on his face. "Oh don't worry, my dear, you'll be joining your friend soon enough."

The small tyrant quickly ordered to bring the next four in line, which was none other than Roxy, Wes Weasley and another two unnamed citizens.

Wes Weasley of course tried to bargain his way out of it.

"C'mon, palsy. No need to roboticize me." Wes Weasley pleaded. "Why, I'll give you a lot of money, supplies or anything else you want if you let me go. Just name your price."

Unfortunately for Wes, Snively wasn't about to be bargained with. "Nice try, you crooked salesmen, but no one's exempt from this!"

Soon, they were all in the chamber, waiting for the order to start. However, before he could give it however, Sonia began yelling while in the back of the line, now exasperated, "You won't get away with this, needle nose!"

Snively quickly walked up to her and shouted at the female hedgehog in a fierce tone of voice. "BE QUIET, RODENT! The only reason you're not a robot yet is because I'm waiting for your brother Sonic to watch it live."

The two hedgehogs instantly gasped in disbelief. He had already figured out their past.

"That's right, vermin, I know all about you." Snively told them bluntly. "I did a background check a little while ago. And I must say, I've been waiting a long time for this moment. Soon, you'll join your Mom and Dad as my robot slaves!"

Snively was about to give the order to start the roboticization, but was quickly interrupted by a security monitor. It showed Sally and Sir Charles inside the main computer room, getting ready to install the deadly virus.

"Why that no good…" Snively looked like he was ready to blow a gasket, but quickly composed himself commenting with a frown, "So, trying to hack my database eh? Well, it's about to go up in smoke!"

He then pulled out a remote, which turned out to be the on switch to one of his latest inventions he had been working on earlier, none other than the servitude wave transmitter.

It was a device guaranteed to make all roboticized citizens obey his every command within three square miles.

Ten seconds before he activated it, Sally was about ready to install the program on the main hard drive. All was needed now was the encryption password to the main database.

Thankfully, Sir Charles knew it from his time as a secret spy in Robotropolis.

"Ok, we're in, Sally. Do your stuff." Charles said.

"Got it. Nicole, transfer file named, Freedom Fighters to the hard drive."

"Transferring, Sally…" Nicole replied

Nicole thankfully was able to transfer within five seconds.

"And now to crash this wretched system." Sally declared boldly

Sadly, she never got the chance. A split second before she could press the enter button, Snively now had complete control over Sir Charles' free will.

"Grab the Princess, and bring her to the roboticization chamber!" Snively ordered him

"Yes, sir."

Sir Charles completely took Sally by surprise and picked her off the ground

"What are you doing?" Sally demanded in shock

"Capture Princess Sally, by order of Snively the great." Sir Charles said in a monotone voice.

It was at that moment, the squirrel Princess realized somehow Snively had taken control over him.

She then tried to get free of his grasp, but was unable to.

"Sonic, HELP ME!" she screamed loudly while Charles carried her out of the room.

The blue hedgehog immediately heard her cries, and came to a halt.

"Hurry, Tails." Sonic said firmly. "Sal's in mondo trouble!"

Just then, the Swatbots caught up with them and said again, "Surrender, hedgehog!"

"I seriously am beginning to hate this mission!" Sonic stated with disgust.

Sonic unfortunately had no time to deal with them. Instead, he grabbed Tails by the arm and blasted off towards the screams of Princess Sally, leaving the Swatbots in his dust.

Back in the West rooms, Bunnie finally came out of hiding once she saw the coast was clear and made her way to the prisoners' cells. While she walked around, wondering which one to free with her ammo, she quickly heard a scream.

Ironically, it wasn't Princess Sally's this time, but Cream's, who was horrified at seeing the cyborg rabbit walk up towards the cell.

"No! Don't turn me into a robot." She pleaded while clinging tightly to Big. "I'm begging you!"

Before Big could say anything in response, Bunnie quickly shushed her and said in a calming tone of voice, "Relax, kiddo. I'm here to help."

"But, part of your body is made of metal." Cream argued.

"Ah know," Bunnie replied with a straight face, "but that's because my roboticization process was halted halfway."

Unfortunately, that explanation didn't calm the young rabbit's fears, nor did it her Mom's or her adopted brother.

"Are you sure you're on our side?" Vanilla asked, still not convinced

"Positive. Now do you want me to let you out of there or not?"

Vanilla of course didn't object, so she nodded her head.

Even Big, who was still very suspicious inside, decided to give the cyborg rabbit a chance.

"Stand back, y'all!" Bunnie ordered them sharply.

The two rabbits, along with Big complied without any hesitation, standing near the back of their cell. With one heave, Bunnie hit the bars dead on with two last grenades, heavily damaging their door.

After the smoke finally cleared, they then tried to open the main cell door and escape.

However, in spite of its damage, the door would still not open.

"Ah, just perfect…" Bunnie groaned frustration.

"Now what do we do?" Cream asked with fear in her voice.

"Ah guess I gotta use mah last pipe bomb then to free you guys…" Bunnie muttered with disgust.

"No need to…" Big replied boldly. "Allow me."

Within moments, the large purple and white cat stepped towards the heavily damaged door. He then winded his fists and punched it as hard he could.

Thanks to his upper body strength, the large white and purple cat was able to bust the door down in one clean shot.

Once it hit the ground with a thud, Cream hugged him tightly after they were free, saying with gratitude and elation on her face, "You did it, big brother! I knew you could…"

Even Bunnie was impressed by his heroics too, commenting to him, "Well I'll be… y'all are quite strong there, Mr. Cat."

"Aw, it was nothing really…" Big replied with modestly. "Just doing what I can to help my little sister here."

Vanilla then turned to the cyborg rabbit, saying with gratitude as well, "Thanks for your help, Miss…"

"Just call me Bunnie." She told them plainly. "No need for fancy titles and such."

After an awkward pause, "Bunnie said firmly, "Now then, ah need you three to help me free the others. Can you do that for me?"

"Of course, Bunnie." Vanilla replied with a firm nod. "We'd be honored to help you out anyway we can."

Seconds later, they all finally heard Princess Sally's screams.

"Oh no, Sally girl's in trouble!" Bunnie said with deep concern in her voice. "Ah gotta go! You free the others."

"Not so fast, rodents!"

The four of them then turned around and saw the three dumb bots standing in their path.

"I don't know how you eluded the Swatbots, but we're gonna finish the job for them!" Scratch said with authority

"In your dreams, tin heads!" Bunnie retorted

"Oh yea, and what are you gonna do about it?" Grounder challenged

"Just this!" Bunnie quickly ran up to them and nailed Scratch with a flying karate kick to his head before he could react, knocking him backwards onto the ground.

"Why you… Get her!" Scratch ordered, getting up furious

"But what about the escaped prisoners?" Coconuts inquired.

"Forget about them." The metal chicken replied. "There's no way they can open up the other cells anyhow."

The cyborg rabbit then quickly ran towards the screams with Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts following her in hot pursuit.

Meanwhile, Sir Charles had finally dragged Princess Sally into the roboticizing room. It was then she saw her comrades Antoine and Rotor standing in line too, also waiting to be roboticized.

"Well, well, nice to see you again, Princess." Snively said smugly. "Wait till you see who gets the honor of escorting you and your friends to my roboticization chambers."

He then ordered three well known roboticized citizens to grab Sonic's siblings and mechanic, and bring them forward.

To make room for them, Snively had his Swatbots remove the unroboticized citizens from their chambers and put em aside. He would deal with them later. Right now, he had bigger fish to fry.

Seconds later, Sonic finally came running in with Tails right behind him

"So, the hedgehog has finally crawled out from under his rock." Snively commented with a smirk.

"Shut up, needle nose! Let em go or else!" Sonic demanded

"You dare demand I let them go?" Snively retorted with a fierce glare. "Do you know who you're dealing with, hedgehog?"

"Yea, someone who's short and ugly." The blue hedgehog shot back.

"Very funny, but soon I shall have the last laugh. Take a look, rodent!"

Within seconds, Sonic gasped in horror in an instant. There he saw his uncle, parents, and Cyrus standing behind his comrades, restraining them. As planned, he was using his roboticized family and friends as a shield to halt him in his tracks.

"Now then, Sonic," Snively stated boldly. "I'll be a nice guy and let one or two go, depending on which chamber you pick. I'll even let you choose, but the others become my robot slaves! So who'll it be? Your beloved Princess, your dear two siblings, or your valuable mechanic? Choose quickly, hedgehog!"

Sonic was now angry and confused at the same time. He then took a step forward and declared firmly, "I'm not playing your game, Snurvley! Let em go or I'll sonic spin your precious roboticizers to dust!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, rodent!" Snively warned. "If you dare take another three steps, I'll have your family members break their necks in one fatal swoop.

"You wouldn't dare!" the blue hedgehog challenged.

"Want to bet?" Snively challenged, giving Sonic the evil eye.

Sonic could instantly tell by tone in his body language, he was dead serious. So, he lowered his shoulders in a slump and replied with defeat in his voice, "Before I choose, I want to know one thing. How did you get the jump on us?"

Snively laughed evilly and replied, "It was easy, really. Take a look!" he said, appearing to be holding something in his hand.

Sonic couldn't see what it was. When Snively could see the hedgehog was clueless, he added with a sly smirk, "Oh I'm sorry, I guess you really can't see it, can you? Just a sec…"

He then pressed another button on the remote in his other hand, revealing it to be a spy orb, one that could turn invisible.

"No way, that's impossible!" Tails said in disbelief.

"Oh its possible all right, you two tailed menace!" The small dictator declared boldly. "It's one of my latest gadgets, the stealth spy orb!" Ingenious, is it not?"

Sonic and Tails instantly lowered their heads down in shame. It appeared Snively had finally beaten them.

"Now then, rodent. Who are you going to choose? You better pick soon or I'll just roboticize all of them at once!"

"You swear you'll let one go?" Sonic inquired disgusted.

"Of course, Sonic dear boy." Snively replied with a sickening grin. "After all, I'm not a completely despicable villain. But don't you dare test my patience! You've got five seconds to decide!"

Sonic was tempted to pick one, but he just couldn't do it. What was the point of saving one, while the rest of friends became robots?

"I…. can't…. choose." He said, trying to hold back the tears in his eyes.

"Oh, that's too bad." Snively replied chortling. "I guess they're all my slaves now! Prepare to put em in the machines, and make sure the hedgehog watches!"

"Yes, sir."

Sonic couldn't bear to witness it, as he turned his head in sorrow. However, when the small tyrant saw this, he told him sharply, "You better keep watch, or I'll have them killed on the spot!"

It was all the blue hedgehog could do to restrain himself at that moment from not cutting Snively in two with a sonic spin attack right then and there.

"Any last words, Princess?" Snively asked with glee while the Swatbots prepared to place her in the chamber.

At that moment, Sally decided to confess something personal to Sonic, something he already kind of knew, but decided to tell him anyway in case she didn't come out of this whole.

However, before she could utter one word of it, a pipe bomb came flying out of nowhere and connected with the middle chamber on it right side. The bomb violently exploded on contact, obliterating the large chamber in the middle to pieces. Even the chamber on the right next to it was heavily damaged as well.

Sally and other freedom fighters who were being restrained at the time were fortunately not hit by the blast or any flying debris that came from it, as they had dived out of the way a split second before the bomb exploded. They were able to do this thankfully since Sonic's roboticized family members and Cyrus let go of them and immediately ran for cover as well.

"What the heck?" Snively said in disgust "Who dares to interfere in my victory celebration?"

"I DO!" proclaimed a familiar voice.

Snively turned his head and saw it was none other than Bunnie, the Freedom Fighter he had carelessly let escape not even ten minutes ago.

"YOU?"

"No way are you turning my friends into machines, you manic!" the cyborgs rabbit declared with full vigor.

Before Snively could give the order to apprehend her, Bunnie threw her last smoke bomb in front of the small dictator, yelling towards her comrades, "High tail it out of here, y'all!"

Within a split second after she said that, the bomb hit the ground directly in front of the small dictator, instantly enveloping him in a cloud of smoke.

While he coughed heavily and attempted to escape the ill effects, Sonic and Tails did just that, as they quickly escorted their comrades and civilians out of the room.

However, when Bunnie attempted to run towards them, Snively yelled in fit of rage to his robotic army, "GET HER! GET THAT CYBORG AT ONCE!"

Instantly, every Swatbot in the room turned on her and gave chase, forcing the cyborg rabbit to make a run for it the other way.

Moments later, Snively looked for the others and saw they had already escaped.

Clinching his teeth again, he turned towards the remaining roboticized citizens in the room, ordering them sharply, "Don't just stand there! Get those wretched Freedom Fighters!"

Like the Swatbots, they too immediately complied, running after them.

While they headed out of the room, Snively hit the button on the wall, initiating a code red alarm. This in turn put all robots in the building on notice.

After he did that, the small dictator muttered to himself incensed, "Those vile rodents... I cannot believe how that cyborg was able to take advantage of me so easily!"

After taking a couple of deep breaths to try and calm himself down, Snively stated boldly while gritting his teeth, "Well, if these rebels really want a fight, then they'll get one!"

He then ran towards the door on the left side, "At least that Princess and meddlesome hedgehog were stupid enough to help me find a power source for my top secret weapon from that shelter!"

Meanwhile in the other room, Sonic asked with concern, "You guys all right?"

"Yea, we're fine." Sally replied. "But Bunnie's going to need your help right away."

"What about you guys?"

"Don't worry about us, Sonic." Sonia spoke up. "We'll be fine. Now go help her at once!"

"Right, juice time!"

Back in the west rooms, Bunnie ran as fast as she could to elude the Swatbots from behind. Unfortunately, before she could make it to the prison cells, more of Snively's robotic forces blocked her path, now surrounding her.

"Surrender." A Swatbot in front of her ordered.

Bunnie didn't even respond to the demand. Instead, she just ran up to it and did a flying karate kick to its chest, knocking the Swatbot to the ground flat on its back.

Seconds later, all the Swatbots from behind instantly began to firing rapid laser shots at her.

Bunnie amazingly avoided their attacks, where she then used her martial arts abilities to smack them down one by one with her metal legs.

Unfortunately though, her luck soon ran out, as one finally grabbed her from behind during her assault.

"Let me go, you tin bucket!" she demanded, trying hard to get free.

Sadly, she was not strong enough to get out of its grasp.

"You are now prisoner of Snively the great." The Swatbot detaining her replied.

"Not today, Swatbutts!"

The Swatbots instantly turned around, and there they saw Sonic leaning against one of the walls.

"Priority One Hedgehog! Apprehend!"

As they all ran after the blue hedgehog, Sonic used his spin attack to knock several of them to the ground. He then buzz sawed the legs off of the Swatbot holding Bunnie tightly, making it crash to the ground and abruptly drop the cyborg rabbit.

"Thanks for your help, Sugarhog." Bunnie said, hugging him tightly.

Unfortunately there were still three Swatbots still standing. Instantly they fired more lasers at the two Freedom Fighters.

"Outta here!" Sonic shouted, grabbing Bunnie and carrying her in his arms as he blasted off.

The Swatbots though gave chase, but were not able to keep up Sonic's speed. Within seconds, they made it to the prison cells and found Vanilla, Cream and Big.

"What are you guys still doing here?" Sonic asked confused after coming to a stop and putting Bunnie on the ground.

"We were trying to release the prisoners from their cells." Vanilla explained

"Were you able to do it?" Bunnie asked

"Yes, we found the main button that opens all the prison doors."

"Cool, where are they now?" Sonic asked

"Hiding near the back of the room." The mother rabbit explained. "They're scared to death to leave on their own..."

"No prob. Ok guys," Sonic said out loud, "Follow me if you want to get out here unroboticized!"

Seconds later however, the three Swatbots finally caught up to them and pointed their lasers at their heads.

"You are under arrest!"

"Wrong again, metal heads!" Sonic said, grabbing a pipe bomb from his backpack. With one precise toss, he heaved it at the Swatbots for a direct hit, instantly blasting two of them to bits while heavily damaging the third.

Sonic though wasted no time in finishing it off, as he again used his triple spin attack to easily cut through its cracked metal chest in one swoop.

Once it hit the ground dead as a doornail, the blue hedgehog stated with satisfaction while dusting his hands. "Guess that's that…"

"Not so fast, rodent!"

Sonic turned his head and saw the three dumb bots standing in front of him.

"Well, well, long time no see…" He commented with sly grin. "I'm surprised Robuttnik didn't already turn you into scrap metal."

"Shut your trap!" Scratch ordered, pointing a finger at them. "Now we're gonna get even with you and your cyborg friend once and for all!"

"Oh brother, you buffoons never learn, do you?"

Sonic then said to Vanilla and Cream, along with Big, "Hurry, head for the exit with the others, pronto!"

"But what about you guys?" Cream inquired with worry.

"We'll be right behind you soon enough." Sonic told her with confidence "Just gotta take care of these wannabes first."

The two rabbits immediately complied and prepared to leave.

However, Big didn't, as he suggested to them, "Allow me to help you defeat these mean bots."

"That's ok, big guy," Sonic reiterated softly. "We got it covered."

Big though wouldn't talked out of it, as he said stepping up towards, "Oh no, I insist."

Cream meanwhile looked on perplexed, asking, "What are you doing, Big?"

Big turned towards her adopted little sister, replying with a firm expression on his face, "These bad bots need to be taught a lesson for scaring you, sis, and I'm going to see to it they get what's coming to them."

Bunnie now attempted to talk him out of it too, but didn't get the chance, as Scratch quickly spoke up with a cackle, "Oh, so the tub of lard furball now wants to tussle with us, eh? Well, that's fine with me!"

At this point, Sonic decided to let him help out as well, saying to Bunnie, "So, guys, what do you say we give these dumb bots an official Freedom Fighter thrashing?"

"With pleasure, Sugar." Bunnie replied psyched up, clinching her fists.

Cream during this time decided to trust the large purple and white cat, saying to him as she left with her mother, "Be careful, big brother."

As she left with her mother, the 3 dumb bots then quickly attempted to attack, only to be taken down once again with ease. Bunnie beat Scratch to the punch and grabbed his neck with her metal hand, flinging him hard against the wall.

The metal chicken hit it beak first, and was now firmly stuck.

Moments later, he saw Grounder and Coconuts charging towards him in a fury.

Thankfully, he didn't have to even make a move, as Big finally ran past the blue hedgehog, where he then winded his right arm back and swung it as hard as he could, punching Coconuts directly between the eyes.

This in turn slammed the metal monkey hard into Grounder hard from behind, causing both of them to hit the ground with a serious thud.

"Such child's play…" The blue hedgehog commented, giving Bunnie a high five.

"Now let's get these civilians outta this dump!" she said, taking off for the exit.

However, as they prepared to leave, two more Swatbots came out of nowhere; pointing their guns at them, with one ordering, "Surrender…!"

"Ah, great… just what we need." Sonic muttered.

The blue hedgehog then attempted to attack them, but was interrupted, as Big said to him firmly, placing a hand in front of his face, "Leave this bots to me. You help my Mom and little sister escape this horrible place."

"Hey, that's my job…!" Sonic protested.

Big though wouldn't back down, reiterating sharply to Sonic, "Please, you must help them escape at once! They're my family."

"But what about you, Sugar?" Bunnie inquired with concern.

"Don't worry about me." Big told her with boldness. "I won't be too long here. Just go, now!"

Sonic again was about to protest, but Bunnie spoke up before he could, saying, "Let's go Sugarhog. I don't you're going to be able to talk him out of it."

Seeing Big's firm determination in his eyes, Sonic finally relented, saying to him as he turned to leave, "I hope you know what you're doing, big guy. These Swatbutts aren't child's play."

And with that statement, he and the cyborg rabbit turned to leave.

After they left and the Swatbots began to open fire, Scratch finally pulled his beak out, shouting angrily, "I'll get that hedgehog if it's the last thing I do!"

However, before he could even take one step, Big abruptly grabbed the metal chicken by the top of his neck, making Scratch demand as he carried like him a club, "What do you think you're doing, you fat cat?"

"Since I don't have a weapon to fight with, you'll have to do instead." The large purple and white cat stated.

"Are you nuts?" Scratch yelled with disgust. "I'm no weapon!"

As Big ducked underneath the Swatbot's lasers, he retorted, "You are now…"

Before the metal chicken could comprehend that statement, Big indeed made him one, as he swung Scratch like a baseball bat, clobbering the two Swatbots to the ground in a heap.

"You rotten furball!" Scratch roared. "You're going to pay for this!"

Just then, another five Swatbots entered the room, making the metal chicken cackle with glee as they drew their weapons at him, "Oh, you're in trouble now, furball!"

Big meanwhile looked to his left, where he saw the heavily dazed Coconuts and Grounder still on the floor.

Seeing them there gave the large purple and white cat an idea, stating with confidence, "I guess I'll use all of you as weapons now."

That statement ironically put a lot of fear into the hearts of the three dumb bots.

Meanwhile, Sonic finally made it outside with Bunnie and the others. He was surprised to see that none of Snively's guards were roaming the area.

However he soon figured out why, as most of them were now frozen, thanks to Dulcy's ice attacks.

The green dragon soon came flying in and landed next to them

"Nice work, Sugar dragon." Bunnie complimented

"Yea, how did you take down so many out by yourself?" Sonic asked

"It was easy really. All I had to do was snipe at them from behind walls and stuff, and they soon became metal popsicles."

"Way cool." Sonic commented excited. "Ok, we need to get these civilians to Knothole, pronto!"

"I can't carry all of them at once, Sonic!" Dulcy protested.

"I know, just do the best you can."

"Ok, hop on board." The green dragon instructed them.

Several civilians then climbed aboard the large flying reptile and prepared for launch.

However, when Vanilla and Cream were next in line to leave, the young rabbit quickly spoke up, saying firmly, "Wait, we can't go without Big."

"Oh, you're right…" the mother rabbit replied, slightly slapping her forehead. "Where is he by the way?"

"He'll be here in a minute." Sonic explained to her. "Big is just cleaning up the robotic mess in the prison room."

"What?" Cream then looked at the blue hedgehog intently, asking of him deeply worried, "Why didn't you stay and give him a hand?"

"I would have," Sonic told her, "but he insisted I get you guys to safety first."

"Please, you have to go back in there and help him." Cream pleaded vehemently. "He's my special big brother…"

Sadly, the blue hedgehog was deeply torn inside at the moment, as he was also worried about the current whereabouts of Sally and his other comrades.

Bunnie thankfully spoke up to calm Cream's nerves, saying to Sonic, "You go on ahead and try to find Sally girl. I'll go back in and try and help that big cat from those nasty machines."

"Thanks, Bunnie." Sonic replied with a nod.

He then said to Vanilla, "Keep an eye on the rest of the civilians while we're away."

"Sure thing." The mother rabbit answered firmly, nodding as well.

Before the blue hedgehog took off, Bunnie said "Be careful, Sugarhog."

"Will do. Gotta juice!"

And with those words, the blue hedgehog took off and began to search the area.

After searching around for 5 minutes and not seeing them anywhere, he then tried the emergency radio.

Unfortunately though, he got no response.

"Sal must be too busy at the moment. No prob, I'll just hide behind the usual junk heap and scout the area for a sec…"

Once he arrived there, Sonic looked around the whole city, hoping to find a glimpse of his Sally or any of his comrades.

But again, he found nothing.

Moments later, he heard a voice say from behind, "Waiting for someone, rodent?"

Sonic quickly turned his head and shocked to see Snively in a twenty foot Swatbot standing behind him.

"What the heck? How did you get here so fast?"

"Easy, I was in stealth mode."

"So, gonna cheat to beat me this time, eh Snobley?"

"I don't need stealth to defeat you, you miserable hedgehog!" the small dictator shot back. "Because this robot is suited with a weapon not even you can escape from!"

"Yea, right... So what is that ugly hunk of junk anyway?"

"Feast your eyes on this, Sonic, as my Mega Swatbot will smash you under its metal feet within a matter of seconds!"

Sonic then looked at his foe with arched eyebrows, commenting, "You really need to get out more, needle nose."

"Enough of your corny jokes, blue boy!" Snively roared. "I'll soon make you and the rest of your team pay dearly for destroying my precious roboticizers!"

"Aw, did we hurt your pwecious wittle machine?" Sonic mocked him in a babyish tone of voice. "That's too bad..."

Snively instantly fired a large laser blast directly at Sonic in retaliation, but missed, as the blue hedgehog jumped to the right to dodge the attack.

"Whoa, no need to get hot under the collar, Shorty."

"When you see what this robot can do, rodent, I'll be the one who'll make the taunts at you!"

"I don't think so." Sonic declared boldly. "I'll turn that oversized tin can of yours into scrap metal in a Sonic second."

"Enough talk!" Snively stated with deep anger in his voice. "Prepare to die, you wretched troublemaker!"

Sonic quickly got into position to duel. It was time to end this madness of Snively's once and for all.


	6. Vs the Mega Swatbot

Chapter 6: Vs the Mega Swatbot

As the 2 stared each other down, Snively made the first move.

"Say your prayers, hedgehog!" he proclaimed, pushing a few buttons.

Within a split second, he fired laser after laser at Sonic, but missed, as the blue blur jumped towards the left and right to evade every single attack.

"Oh, so you want to heat things up, eh?" Sonic said, revving up his legs. "Well check this out!"

The blue hedgehog then ran around his Mega Swatbot at blazing speeds, even in between the robot's legs, trying to confuse his foe.

"Hold still, you pest!" Snively yelled, pressing the button repeatedly to fire the laser gun.

Again and Again, Snively desperately tried to blast the blue hedgehog, but continued to miss his target.

After a dozen misses, Sonic decided to make things more interesting.

"Hey needle nose," Sonic said, coming to a stop in front of his robot, "Your machine is a joke. So, I'll tell ya what. I'll stand right here and give you a clear shot at me. Sound fair?"

Snively was enraged at his taunting, declaring fervently, "That's does it, blue boy! Now I'm going to really let you have it!"

Snively then charged the laser cannon to full power and aimed it at the blue hedgehog's head. Sonic of course was just yawning while he did so.

"Let's see you evade this, rodent!" he shouted.

Snively instantly mashed the button with his right index finger, now firing a massive laser beam at Sonic. However, to no one's surprise, Sonic took off before it could even touch him.

"Oh brother, you are the worst shot in the world, Snobley." The blue hedgehog commented with a chuckle.

Snively then banged the dash, yelling "You're not getting away from me that easily!"

"Ok, how bout this then?" Sonic quickly ran next to the feet of Snively's robot, saying nonchalantly, "I'll give you five seconds to try and smash me with those giant clod hoppers of yours."

Snively's anger again rose at his taunting words. However, when he saw Sonic start to count, he decided to take him on his dare.

Little did he realize however, the blue hedgehog was again one step ahead of him, as he started counting faster the closer the Mega Swatbot's metal foot came towards him. When the foot finally got too close for comfort, Sonic finished counting and quickly moved out of the way.

"Hey, you cheated!" Snively protested in disgust.

"You know what they say, Shorty." Sonic retorted with a smug grin. "All's fair in love and war. Anyway, I'll be nice and give ya another shot."

Snively then tried again to smash the blue hedgehog, but would come up empty once more.

"Last chance, needle nose!"

Snively attempted a 3rd time to flatten Sonic with his robot's metal foot, only to have the same result as before… utter failure.

"Aw, too bad…" Sonic taunted. "Looks like you were too slow again. Oh well, see ya!"

Once Sonic blasted off, Snively yelled at him, "Oh no you don't!"

The small tyrant then put the legs' system on full power, and chased down his foe. While the blue hedgehog began running around, he heard a large thumping sound not too far behind him.

"Oh, so your robot's faster than I thought… Well, try and keep up, chump!"

Sonic soon increased his speed and then led Snively on a wild chase all over Robotropolis. Amazingly, Snively's Mega Swatbot was still able to keep Sonic in his sights the whole time.

After this went on for about a minute, the blue hedgehog grew tired of this game and decided to end it. Leading the Mega Swatbot near a junk pile, he quickly set up a trap. Once it was in position, Sonic darted to the left at the last possible second.

Snively unfortunately didn't see the low steel beam Sonic had set up a hundred feet ahead and his robot tripped over it, sending him and his machine crashing heavily into a heap of scrap metal.

Seeing the robot down for the count, the blue hedgehog declared triumphantly, raising his right fist in the air. "Yea, nailed one mondo ugly Swatbutt!"

"Well, that's that." He said, dusting his hands. Time to find Sal."

But before he couldn't even take off, he quickly saw the shadow of Snively's robot creeping up from behind him.

"Whoa, you are persistent, aren't you, needle nose?"

Snively was now fully seething inside. "Fun and games are over, rodent!" he declared incensed. "Now I'm going to unleash my full wrath on you!"

"Ooh, I'm sooooooo scared now." Sonic mocked.

"You will be, when you see this!"

By this time, Sonic shook his head at his threats, muttering back, "Pfft, give it up, Shorty. You're pathetic."

"You're the one who'll be pathetic in a minute!"

"You know what? You're boring me. Adios, Snobley."

Sonic then blasted off, but to his great surprise, he was hit this time by Snively's laser blast, sending him skidding across the floor.

"What the heck? How did you hit me so easily?" the blue hedgehog demanded in disbelief, now standing up.

"This is how, you rotten braggart!

Snively then released a super fast mini rocket into the air and pressed the laser button. To Sonic great shock, the gun was pointed away from the rocket, yet it still honed in on it and blasted it to bits

"How is that even possible?" Sonic inquired perplexed

"Simple, my blue nemesis…" Snively shot back. "When my former Uncle Julian stole a Power Ring from your cowardly coyote friend, he invented a sonic honing radar system."

Sonic was very familiar with that experience.

"However," the small dictator explained, "the system would only work as long as a Power Ring was its main power source." 

He then added with a sly grin, "But that isn't true anymore. Thanks to my brilliant ingenuity, I've taken those same schematics of his machine and modified its design to track anything at Mach 1 speed or higher. So now, my laser cannon can hone in on you without your precious ring, making your super speed, useless!" Ah Ha Ha Ha!"

As Sonic looked on with a frown, Snively told him with a sly taunt, "And if that's not enough of a bonus, I have you to thank for helping me power my new super weapon even better than what I had planned."

"What are you blabbing about, Snobley?" Sonic demanded.

"You mean you forgot about it already? The small dictator retorted. "Surely you must have seen by now the stone that powered that pathetic underground shelter was taken when you arrived to transfer your meddlesome siblings."

Sonic instantly did a double take, saying, "You don't mean…?"

"That's right!" Snively declared with glee. "That precious stone is now not only powering my super sonic honing device, but my entire Mega Swatbot too!"

Snively again let out a hearty laugh at his foe. It was that moment Sonic immediately figured out how the Swatbot was able to keep up with him when it ran after him. 

The blue hedgehog then demanded with arched eyebrows, "Oh yea? If it's such a wonder machine, then how come didn't you use it against me sooner, Snurvely?"

"Simple, I wanted you to let your guard down. And you took the bait, hook, line and sinker."

Sonic then gritted his teeth and shot back, "We'll see who's the bait in a second!"

Meanwhile , Bunnie and Cream ran back into the prison to find Big.

However, by the time they got there, there was no sign of him anywhere, not even metal remains of any Swatbots.

After a thorough inspection of the entire area, Cream asked the cyborg rabbit softly with a bit of fear in her voice, "Where's my big brother? What happened to him? Why is he not here?"

Bunnie then scratched her head, replying deeply perplexed, "Ah don't know, Sugarcube. It looks like he just vanished into thin air."

At that moment, Cream's mind soon became paralyzed with fear, asking with a whimper and a tear in her eye, "You… you don't think those bad bots took Big to those awful robot rooms and did something terrible to him, do you?"

Sensing the panic in her body expression, Bunnie knelt at her eye level, replying while placing a hand on her shoulder, "Now don't you go borrowing trouble there, youngin. We don't know for sure where he is now."

"But what else could it be?" Cream argued, raising her voice. "He would have met up with us if he was ok!"

Bunnie instantly shushed her, saying with a slight rebuke, "You're going to draw the attention of more of those nasty Swatbots if you don't keep your voice down."

She then added, "And besides, I'm pretty sure I blasted those roboticizing chambers with a pipe bomb earlier, so there's no way they could have roboticized him, at least not for awhile."

Even so, the cyborg rabbit could tell by her facial expressions they had to check for her own peace of mind. So, Bunnie said to Cream after a heavy sigh, "Very well then, we'll go look in the roboticizing room just to be sure."

Cream slightly nodded her head in response, replying with a sniffle, "Thank you."

When they finally arrived in the room a minute later, Bunnie soon saw the aftermath of her attack. All three of the roboticizing chambers were destroyed.

"See there, Sugarcube?" Bunnie told her confidently. "Ah told ya they couldn't have roboticized him. Its equipment is busted for the time being."

"But, if that's true…" Cream argued. "Then why is it we haven't found him yet?"

Deep down, the cyborg rabbit didn't have a clue why Big had mysteriously disappeared.

Nevertheless, she told the young rabbit, "Well, let's not waste anymore time around here, thinking about what could have happened. He's got to be around here somewhere, so we might as well keep looking, right?

Cream again nodded her head, as they soon ran off towards the next room.

However, as they did so, a shadowy figure crept slowly out of hiding from a well hidden corridor on the right side of the room, softly cackling to himself.

Back outside, the blue hedgehog ran towards the Mega Swatbot at top speed, attempting to attack it with a triple spin.

Unfortunately thanks to perfect timing, Snively pressed the button a split second to fire a large laser shot before he could, knocking him flat on his back.

Sonic though shook his head back and forth to shake the dust and dirt off. Irritated, he began to run around again at Snively's robot, this time only in circles.

But again, the small tyrant just toyed with him, and fired another laser blast. Like before, Sonic was hit and sent flying backwards a 3rd time in a tumbling heap.

Now enraged, the blue hedgehog quickly got up, now trying his sonic buzz saw attack on the feet of the Mega Swatbot, trying to cut them.

Sadly, it was completely ineffective. Sonic couldn't even put a dent in its structure.

Snively quickly laughed at his pathetic attempts, saying with a chortle, "Don't bother trying that move, rodent! They're completely reinforced with steel alloy."

"It's not over till its over!" Sonic proclaimed after bouncing off and landing on the ground nearby.

"C'mon, you pest," Snively dared with dripping glee, "Hit me with your best shot!"

Sonic then tried to use his whirlwind attack to knock the massive robot off its feet, but as with his buzz saw attack, it was totally useless.

"Playtime's over, hedgehog!" the small tyrant declared with a sly grin after this went on for ten seconds, charging the laser as he spoke.

Once it was fully charged, Snively unleashed it on Sonic, who was still trying to make his whirlwind attack work. This time, the laser blast hit him directly from behind, knocking the blue hedgehog high into the air, where he then came crashing to the ground with a loud thud.

Like before, Sonic tried to get up quickly, but could not this time. Snively's large laser blast really knocked him for a loop.

Snively meanwhile laughed heartily at his opponent, taunting "So, who's the pathetic one now, Sonic? I guess that makes you as you call it, "an ordinary slowmo."

Fueled by his taunts, Sonic forced himself to get up.

"I must say, Snobley, he commented with a heavy frown, "you've really outdone yourself this time, but I still got one last trick up my sleeve."

Snively then instantly remembered the hedgehog still hadn't used his Power Ring. The thought of it made him very nervous inside.

"Time to end this silly game of ours once and for all, needle nose!" the blue hedgehog declared boldly, holding it high in the air."

Unfortunately for Sonic, Snively was one step ahead of him. When Sonic attempted to power up, the small tyrant countered it to perfection. He fired a laser at the top part of the ring, which resulted in it being knocked completely out of his hands, landing into a pile of scrap metal fifty feet behind him.

Sonic quickly gasped in shock. He immediately went after it, only to have Snively's radar hone in on him again. The blue hedgehog couldn't even run fifteen feet, where he was soon knocked high into the air by another laser blast from behind, hitting the ground hard with a thud.

"Nice try, rodent," Snively countered, "But you're not going to use that ring on me this time!"

Sonic again tried to get up, but the laser blasts were unfortunately beginning to take its toll on him. His body was very battered and bruised.

Seeing his foe struggling to stand, Snively quickly grabbed the blue hedgehog with his robot's right giant metal hand.

Sonic tried hard to get free, but Snively made sure there would be no escape, as he held him very tightly.

"End of the line, blue boy!" the small dictator declared boldly. "Now I'm gonna crush you into a tiny pebble!"

With things looking grim, Snively then implemented the commands to have the hand squeeze around him at full strength.

However, before he could finish imputing that command into his machine, a pipe bomb from above came flying in and hit the Mega Swatbot directly on top of its head. The impact from the explosion instantly rocked the giant robot all over, making it abruptly drop Sonic from its grasp.

"What the heck was that?" Snively demanded.

He soon heard someone shout from behind, "Hey needle nose, time to even the odds, don't ya think?"

Snively quickly turned around, and there he saw Manic and Sonia now flying towards him on Manic's hoverboard at full speed.

"Why you no good…"

"Have a seat, you maniac!" Sonia yelled, throwing two more pipe bombs at the Mega Swatbot's legs.

Thanks to the female hedgehog's well timed toss, the bombs exploded directly on her designated target, with one bomb hitting each leg, causing the Mega Swatbot to quickly lose its balance and fall to the ground with a loud thud.

While Snively tried to get the machine back on its feet, Sonic finally looked up after shaking his head to clear his vision. There, he saw his siblings quickly heading his way. Seeing their faces brightened his spirits and gave him renewed vigor.

Manic and Sonia rushed over to their brother as fast as they could after they landed and helped him up.

"You ok, Sonic?" Sonia asked concerned after he stood up.

"Yea, a bit dinged up, but I'll live. What are you guys doing here?"

"We saw you were in trouble, so we decided to give you a hand." Manic replied.

"How did you retrieve your board?" Sonic inquired. "I didn't see it with you in the robotizing room."

"Oh that… Well, I had a little help from the Princess and the other Freedom Fighters." Manic explained a bit sheepishly.

As it turned out, after Sally had guided her friends and the shelter citizens out of the building to safety, they soon went back inside, where they thankfully found the room where Snively kept the plunder of those he took captive.

"So where are Sal and the others by way?" Sonic asked

"They're keeping an eye on the civilians and helping them escape back to Knothole." Sonia explained.

"Cool. Hey, thanks for coming to my aid, sibs." Sonic told them with a smile I really appreciate it."

"Anytime, bro…" Manic replied. "That's what siblings are for."

The three hedgehogs then embraced each other tightly, but their touching moment wouldn't last for very long. Five seconds later, Snively finally righted his Mega Swatbot back on it feet, where is soon towered over them again.

"You despicable pests!" he roared. "I'll barbeque your miserable hides for this!"

"Not gonna happen, Snobley!" Sonic retorted boldly. "Now you're gonna see the super hedgehogs in action."

"In your dreams, rodents!" the small dictator shot back.

"So, what do you say we give old needle nose here a lesson he'll never forget." Sonic suggested to his siblings.

"With pleasure." Manic said enthused.

"Let's get em!" Sonia added, smacking her clinched fists together.

As the Mega Swatbot drew closer towards them to attack, Sonic said to his siblings, "Time for teamwork, guys. Split up to keep Snurvley on his toes."

The then hedgehogs then joined hands for a split second and got down to business.

Now the real battle would begin.

"Eat this, you troublemakers!" Snively shouted, firing multiple lasers at each hedgehog. His attacks however were for naught, as all three of them were easily evaded thanks to high agility.

"Now it's my turn." Sonic said, revving up his legs and taking off towards the Mega Swatbot.

Snively soon saw him coming from the west side and quickly charged the laser with the sonic radar.

However, a split second before he could fire, Sonia threw another pipe bomb in front of the laser cannon. The female hedgehog again timed it to perfection, making it explode and completely absorb the laser attack.

"Why you rotten…"

"C'mon, Snobley, hit me with your best shot!" Sonic taunted.

"With pleasure, rodent!"

Sonic again blasted off towards him at top speed again, as Snively activated the sonic radar once more, firing its honing laser again and again.

Sonic though anticipated the timing of this device this time and moved over a couple of feet to the left and right a split second before impact. This move instantly put a look of shock the small tyrant's face.

The blue hedgehog then began running in circles around him to confuse his adversary.

Enraged, Snively hit the button as fast as he could, firing laser after laser at his foe, only to come up empty once again.

While Snively had his attention on Sonic, Manic quickly got on his hover board and flew overhead.

"Bombs away!" the green hedgehog smirked, dropping two more pipe bombs on the head of Snively's Mega Swatbot.

The impact again violently shook Snively's robot all over, even putting it temporarily on the fritz.

"Way cool!" Sonic exclaimed. He then turned to Sonia and asked, "How many of those bombs you have left by the way?"

"We're only down to one now sadly." she replied firmly.

"Hmm, guess we better make it count then." Sonic stated, putting a hand under his chin to ponder it over.

Moments later after the shaking stopped, Snively saw Manic from above and shouted, "I'll blast you out of the sky for this, you troublemaker!"

Snively quickly pointed the laser cannon at the green hedgehog and pressed the button rapidly, firing multiple shots at Manic. Manic however was too slick on his board, using his special aerial moves to evade every attack that came his way.

While this was going on, Sonic was trying to decide where to throw the last pipe bomb at Snively's robot.

"Got any ideas where to plant this, sis?"

Sonia then put a hand on her chin and said a couple seconds later, "Why don't we aim for the laser cannon again? At the very least, it should cause it to malfunction." 

"Of course!" Sonic exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Guess you need to use your brain more." Sonia teased with a sly smirk.

"Very funny…"

After a brief pause, Sonic said to his sister, "Ok, I'll get Snobley's attention. When you get the chance, aim for the cannon."

"Will do, Sonic."

The blue hedgehog then blasted off for the Mega Swatbot, as Snively continued to try effortlessly to take out the green hedgehog in the air.

"C'mon, is that best you can do?" Manic taunted, while evading every shot. "I'm not even breaking a sweat here."

Snively growled fiercely. "Next time I modify a radar, I'm going to have one that hones onto flying hedgehogs as well!"

Seconds later, Sonic ran up the Mega Swatbot from its west side and soon stood on its head. Then, he whistled loudly to get Snively's attention.

"YOU AGAIN?"

"Why waste your time with him when I'm the one you want, needle nose?"

"You won't get away from me this time, you rotten furball!" Snively yelled.

"Whatever you say, slowmo! See ya!"

And with those words, Sonic blasted down towards the robot and began running around it again.

Snively instantly activated the sonic radar, and fired multiple rounds of lasers at his opponent, only to once again miss completely, as Sonic again outwitted his attacks by zigzag around every laser blast that came near him.

"Hold still, you…!" Snively growled, now hitting the button more rapidly.

While his attention was on the blue hedgehog, Sonia prepared to heave the pipe bomb at their designated target.

Sonic then gave her a clear shot, as he sped past her with Snively still hot on the hedgehog's heels.

Trying to time it to perfection again, Sonia heaved the pipe at the cannon, aiming for the hole of the cannon to make it explode from within.

Strangely, the female hedgehog's aiming would be a bit off this time, but still managed to hit the top of the cannon, resulting in heavy damage to internal circuits.

Snively soon discovered this the hard way, as when he went to fire another laser shot, it would not respond. Instead, it would now only short circuit.

"My laser cannon! NO!" Snively emotions though quickly changed from horror to one of deep rage, shouting, "You'll pay dearly for this, hedgehogs!"

Snively instantly switched strategies, as he began to use his robot's metal instead feet to try and crush the female hedgehog in front of him.

"Yikes!" Sonia then tried to make a desperate run for it, but unfortunately was tripped up by a loose piece of metal on the ground nearby, landing chest first onto the ground. Once there, she found herself cornered by the metal monster, with a large wall of scrap metal behind her.

One hedgehog pancake, coming up!" Snively shouted, gritted his teeth, lifting his Mega Swatbot's right leg high into the air.

Sonic though thankfully came to her rescue, grabbing his sister moments before the foot came crashing down, instantly blasting off.

"Oh no you don't!" Snively immediately gave chase as Sonic continued to run, now carrying his sister in his arms.

While they were being pursued, Manic shouted to them twenty feet in the air with a whistle, "Up here, bro!"

Sonic looked up at his brother right on top of him while running and quickly got the idea. In one quick motion, Manic flew low enough for Sonia to grab onto the board and took off, now out of harm's way.

"Now its just you and me, Snobley!" Sonic said boldly.

"Your pathetic games will soon be coming to an end, hedgehog!" the small dictator proclaimed loudly.

"Sorry, but I've got a lot more tricks left up my sleeve." The blue hedgehog retorted. "Gotta juice!"

And with that statement, he blasted off and soon led Snively's Mega Swatbot on another wild chase around Robotropolis.

Like before, Sonic couldn't shake the giant robot, as it was nearly fast enough to keep pace with him.

Thirty seconds into the chase, the blue hedgehog got another idea. Seeing a building up ahead, Sonic charged for towards one of its walls at full speed. Snively of course took the bait and followed closely behind.

With perfect timing, Sonic darted to the right by mere inches from the wall in front of him.

"Oh no!"

Due to perusing too heavily, Snively had no time to take evasive action, as his robot instantly plowed through the wall at top speed. The impact sent the Mega Swatbot crashing violently inside to the ground with another loud thud, coming to a stop on it back.

As the smoke and the dust began to billow from the inside, Sonic commented with a smirk, "Just like his uncle Robuttnik, fast, but stupid."

"Nice job, bro." Manic complimented overhead.

"Now let's finish off that weasel!" Sonia said invigorated, still clinging onto Manic's hover board.

Within seconds, the three hedgehogs made their way inside. There they saw Snively's robot still on the ground. They soon stood on the shoulders of the Mega Swatbot while Snively was completely dazed from the crash.

"Game over, Shorty!" Sonic proclaimed, now looking at him through his cockpit with anger.

Moments later, Snively cleared his head and saw his foes staring at him vividly.

"Your reign of terror ends now!" the blue hedgehog added sharply.

"Get off my machine, you wretched beasts!" Snively yelled.

"Are you gonna surrender, or do we have to twist your arm out of its socket?" Sonia demanded

"I'll never give in to you low lives!" the small dictator declared. "You hear me, NEVER!"

"Ok then, Snobley. Have it your way." Sonic said with a grin on his face.

Sonic then turned to his siblings and said, "Let's fish him out of his little toy."

"With pleasure." Manic said, cracking his knuckles.

Snively quickly let out a panicked scream, as he saw the looks on their faces. They were dead serious about their intentions.

"Oh no you don't!" he shouted at them. I'm not done yet!"

the small tyrant then quickly used the controls to get his machine to stand up, as well as try and shake off the three hedgehogs off of it . Thankfully he was able to stand it up within seconds, but he still couldn't shake off his foes from his robot. They held on tightly to his contraption in spite of his best efforts.

"Get off you vile rodents before I…"

By mere coincidence, Snively accidently pressed the button that fired the laser while he swung his arm towards them

To everyone's shock, including Snively, the laser now fired with no problems.

"Well what do you know?" the small tyrant commented with glee after having his machine do a quick status report. "My weapon still works, just the radar is toast."

Instantly the faces of the three hedgehogs changed from confident to deep concern. They thought the laser cannon had been taken out by the exploding canister, but they sadly were mistaken.

Snively then pointed the cannon at the hedgehogs who were still on the Mega Swatbot's shoulders, telling them with glee, "Prepare to die!"

"Uh oh, time to bail!" Sonic shouted to his siblings.

Moments before he could hit the button, the three hedgehogs jumped off a split second before it fired, using Manic's hover board to help them coast down to safely. Amazingly, the laser didn't even hit the Mega Swatbot's structure either, as Snively had the cannon aimed it to perfection.

Seconds after landing safely on the ground and running out the building, they looked from behind and saw Snively laughing evilly at them.

"Hey, Shorty, what's so funny?" Sonic demanded

"Oh I'll tell you what's so funny, hedgehog… I'm gonna cheat now to beat you!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sonia asked confused.

"Observe!"

Seconds later, Snively's Mega Swatbot turned invisible. Sonic immediately got the gist of what he was trying to say.

"Now let's see you rodents try to stop me!" the small tyrant said, still laughing heartily.

And with that statement, he pressed the controls to have his Mega Swatbot run towards them with fury.

Realizing there was no other option, Sonic shouted to his sibs in a frenzy, "Let's make tracks, guys before that mondo bot squashes us into hedgehog soufflés!"

Hearing the loud stomps coming towards them, Sonic's brother and sister didn't dare to argue with him, as they all ran for it, heading towards a nearby junk pile.

Once they were there, Sonia asked in frustration, "Now how are we gonna defeat that thing?"

"I have no clue." Sonic replied, completely stumped, "but there's got to be a way."

Just then, the three of them heard the same stomping noises again. It was no doubt Snively's robot, but where it was heading, none of them could tell.

"So, where do you think I am now?" Snively asked smugly, now having his robot come to a stop.

"Show yourself, you coward!" Sonic demanded.

Not surprisingly, Snively didn't comply, as he wasn't about to blow his cover.

"Am I here?" he asked, firing lasers to the left.

"Or am I here?" he asked again, firing lasers now to the right.

Even with all the lasers firing about, Sonic and his siblings still couldn't narrow it to down to one specific location.

"Do you have any idea of my whereabouts?" Snively asked defiantly

The hedgehogs didn't answer. His games were getting old fast.

After pausing for then seconds, Snively stated with a slight chuckle, "Oh, that's bad. CAUSE I KNOW WHERE YOU ARE!"

Instantly, he fired a laser close to the green hedgehog's feet, knocking him backwards onto the ground.

"Manic!" Sonia shouted, running to his aid.

Snively didn't even give her to assist her brother, as he fired another shot, hitting Sonia directly in her right shoulder. The impact from the laser sent the female hedgehog tumbling ten feet backwards, moderately injuring her.

"SONIA!" Sonic shouted in horror.

The blue hedgehog then heard Snively's laugh again, saying boldly "Two down, one to go!"

"I'm gonna cream you for this, punk!" Sonic stated angrily.

"Dream on, rodent!" the small dictator retorted smugly. You're finished now!"

Sonic then revved his legs and took off towards the shots he saw.

"Yes, that's it, hedgehog! Right this way!"

Snively hit the button twice, firing two lasers at his foe almost simultaneously. Sonic though was able to see the blast's direction as it headed towards him, quickly changing direction to evade the attack.

The small tyrant's face now changed when from cocky to angry in a second. "Ok, let's see you try and avoid this, Sonic!"

Snively now put the cannon on rapid fire, shooting dozens of lasers at the blue hedgehog.

However, since he didn't have the sonic radar anymore, his laser blasts were erratic and all over the place, making them easy to avoid alone. Nevertheless, Sonic unfortunately was soon forced to duck for cover behind another pile of scrap metal nearby due to the fact there were too many lasers for him to deal with at once.

"C'mon out and play, hedgehog!" Snively taunted.

Sonic however wasn't about to play his game. Instead, he quickly backtracked towards his sister without being spotted, who was now on her feet.

"You ok, sis?" Sonic asked.

"Yea, I'll be fine." she replied with a slight groan, rubbing her injured shoulder. "Just a couple of moderate burns is all…"

Manic soon came towards them as well, asking "You guys got any new ideas on how to take this thing out?"

"Not a one, Manic man."

Just then, a large laser blast came right at the blue hedgehog's feet, knocking him backwards to the ground, slightly stunning him.

"Peek-a-boo, I see you!" Snively taunted.

Sonic was getting more frustrated by the second. After he shook his head to clear his vision, he said to them firmly, "Take cover and stay hidden. I'll find a way to bring old needle nose down for good."

His two siblings however shook their heads. "No way, Sonic." Sonia replied sharply. "We're in this together."

"Are you crazy? Snobley will fry you both!" the blue hedgehog argued

"Doesn't matter now..." Manic answered with the same sharpness as his sister. "We have to work together. It's what our parents what would have wanted from us."

After hearing that, Sonic couldn't find a rebuttal for his words at all.

"Are you ready to surrender, rodents?" Snively asked smugly two seconds later.

Sonic though didn't answer him. Instead he said to his siblings, "Well, at least take cover for now. When I get Snively's attention, you try to attack him from another angle

"And how exactly do you expect us to do that since we can't even see him?" Sonia inquired with a heavy frown.

"Just do the best you can. Right now, I gotta job to do." Sonic answered.

"Last warning, hedgehogs!" Snively stated firmly. "Surrender now or I'll fry you and your siblings!"

"NEVER!" the blue hedgehog shouted back

"Ok then, it's your hides!" Snively then charged the laser to full power and prepared to hit the button.

"Bail out now, sibs." Sonic instructed them.

They didn't want to, but they followed his orders nonetheless, ducking for cover.

Sonic then headed straight for where he could hear the charging sound.

Moments later, Snively said, "Say goodbye, blue boy!"

The small tyrant instantly mashed the button down, firing a fully charged laser blast at his opponent.

"YIKES!" Sonic exclaimed

The laser blast was so big; the blue hedgehog was forced to jump high into the air to keep from getting hit.

Sadly, it still unfortunately wasn't enough, as the blast grazed his feet , sending Sonic tumbling to the ground below in a heap.

"YES! I've got him now!" Snively shouted, raising his hand into the air.

Thankfully, Sonic only suffered several bruises from the fall.

Nevertheless, when he attempted to stand up, he was abruptly picked up by Snively's invisible robot from behind, now holding onto him tightly in its grasp

Manic and Sonia quickly saw what was going on and gasped loudly.

"Manic, now's our chance!" the female hedgehog exclaimed. "By holding Sonic in his hand, Snively's exposed his location.

"But what can we hit that hunk of junk with?" Manic argued. "We're out of weapons!"

Sonia then pondered it over, quickly answering, "Then let's hit him with these metal parts in the junk heap. Maybe something in there will help us deactivate the stealth mode on that giant Swatbot."

"It's worth a try." The green hedgehog commented with a shrug.

"C'mon, let's get busy! We gotta save our brother before he's crushed!" Sonia said.

With no time to lose, they did just that.

"Any last words, you blue pest?" Snively asked the blue hedgehog smugly.

Sonic struggled to get free, but was unable to. "Yea, you're ugly and a freak!" he shouted with a frown.

"Consider that your last smart remark, hedgehog," the small dictator declared not amused, "cause now I'm gonna crush you to bits!"

Snively then imputed the commands to increase the pressure on the robot's hand to finish off Sonic, but he was interrupted halfway, as metal parts soon came out of nowhere, hitting his robot on top of its head.

"Now what?" Snively said angrily.

"Hey, Snurvley, forget someone?" Sonia said, tossing more junk at the robot while hanging onto his brother's hover board.

"You dare defy me when I got your brother's life in the palm of my hand?" he roared.

"No way are we letting you kill him." Manic told him boldly on his hover board

Snively growled fiercely again. "Then I'll blast you both out of the sky first instead!"

The small tyrant then pointed the laser cannon at the two hedgehogs in the air and repeatedly pressed the button.

Laser after laser soon came at them with fury, but missed, as Manic again was too swift on his hover board.

Unfortunately though, Manic and Sonia were soon out of metal parts, forcing them to turn back to the junk heap and grab more.

"Ha! Looks like your pathetic siblings are retreating. Now I'm gonna squash you like a bug!"

"Hurry, Manic! We've gotta to get back up there." Sonia said firmly

Since time was not on their side, Manic made one quick swoop on his hover board for them to pick up the metal parts. With near perfection, they each grabbed a handful of scrap metal and headed back upwards

"Time to die, hedgehog!" Snively said gleefully, imputing the commands

"Step on it, Manic!" Sonia instructed, starting to panic.

The green hedgehog again put his board on max speed as he headed back towards his brother.

Finally, Snively finished imputing the commands and was ready to press the button.

But for the 3rd time, he was interrupted as metal parts began to rain down on his machine yet again from the same place again.

"Would you two give it up already?" Snively shouted angrily to them. "There's nothing you can do to save your troublemaking brother!"

Sadly, one of them began to believe he was right.

"Our plan isn't not working, sis." Manic stated a bit of a panic. "We're not even coming close to getting him out of that bot's clutches."

Sonia though kept her resolve, replying firmly, "Don't give up, there's gotta be something in these parts that will…"

At that moment, she completely lost her train of thought, as she saw something within the pile of metal in her hand that boosted her spirits.

She then shouted to her brother, "Quick, get his attention again."

"What for?" the green hedgehog inquired puzzled.

"Trust me this." Sonic answered confidently. "I have a plan."

Deciding to trust her, Manic did just that.

As he flew closer towards the invisible Mega Swatbot, Snively again prepared to press the button to crush his foe.

Manic though interrupted him from doing so once more, as he used the bottom of his board to slam into the head of the Mega Swatbot, again jarring it upon impact.

Not surprisingly, the jarring effects from this attack were small compared to the others.

Nevertheless, it did get Snively's attention, as he again tried to fire his lasers at them in retaliation.

That move unfortunately would be his undoing, as Sonia quickly tossed her secret weapon she found in the pile of metal she scooped up during this time… none other than a moderate sized magnet.

Using perfect timing and aiming well, the female hedgehog heaved it at the left side from where Sonic was being held, where it soon connected onto the metal chest and stuck to it like glue.

After missing the hedgehogs again with another round of laser attacks, Snively was fed up inside, where he made up his mind on the spot that nothing now would deter his focus on crushing the blue hedgehog into powder.

Ironically, he would indeed get another interruption… one he could not ignore in the least. Within seconds, the magnet on his robotic chest began to heavily affect his machine's stealth abilities, as it began to spark all over.

"What in Mobius going on?" he demanded

Before Snively knew what had hit him, his robot's stealth mode was no more, as the magnet had completely fried it.

"Well, well, well…" Sonic smirked. "Looks like we can see your giant tin can again."

"Impossible!" Snively shouted in horror, placing his hands on the side of his head. "This can't be happening!"

Unfortunately for him, it was indeed.

Moments later, Sonia had Manic fly in low, where she then jumped onto the right shoulder of the Mega Swatbot.

She soon ran up towards Snively's cockpit and attempted to break the Plexiglas eye that separated the two of them with her martial moves, again freaking him out after she began kicking.

While Sonia kept the small maniac busy, Manic flew in, where he carefully pulled his brother out the robot's hand, which was thankfully still loose enough for him to do so.

"Thanks, Manic man." Sonic said after he brought him onto the ground below.

Meanwhile, Sonia gave Snively a death glare, as she looked him in the eye with fierce anger.

"It's clobbering time!" the female hedgehog told him, continuing to kick the Plexiglas hard in front of her.

Snively by this time was beginning to panic inside, but he quickly composed himself, shouting firmly back at her, "No way I'm letting that happen!"

The small dictator then tried to shake her off of the Mega Swatbot, but Sonia held on tightly.

"Get off, you filthy rodent!" he shouted at Sonia.

Snively then attempted to smack her off with his Mega Swatbot's metal hands, but missed, as Sonia evaded every swing that came her way, jumping over some and ducking underneath others.

"I SAID, GET OFF!"

Snively now swung both metal hands at the female hedgehog at once, making it next to impossible for her to elude. This time unfortunately, Sonia was unable to dodge both this time, where she soon was smacked hard by the right metal hand of the Mega Swatbot.

"Sonia!" Sonic quickly blasted off to save her from a serious fall.

"Oh no you don't, blue boy!" Snively yelled, charging his laser cannon.

Sonia screamed in fear as she fell towards the ground below, but Sonic was soon within range to catch her.

The small tyrant now pointed the laser cannon at the area he calculated the blue hedgehog would be when he caught his sister.

Seconds later, Sonic jumped high into the air and firmly caught Sonia in his arms.

"Now, try this!" Snively shouted, pressing the button.

Instantly, the laser fired, heading right for Sonia and Sonia.

"Whoa, time to juice!" the blue hedgehog said, revving his legs.

Sonic desperately tried to make a run for it, but it was too little too late, as part of the blast hit him from behind, sending him and his sister flying into the air.

"YES! I got them!" Snively declared victoriously, raising his right hand in the air.

Manic meanwhile looked on in shock, soon shouting in retaliation, "Nobody does that to my sibs and gets away with it!" The green hedgehog then flew towards for the Mega Swatbot on his hover board.

While he flew towards the small dictator's large machine, Sonic and Sonia finally came to a stop after tumbling for over twelve feet on the floor. At first, Sonic struggled to get up, but soon managed to do so, where he then ran over to his sister, who was still on the ground on her back first near a pile of junk.

"You ok, Sonia?" he asked, helping her sit up.

"Yea…" she muttered with a groan, rubbing her forehead with her right hand, "as soon as my head stops spinning."

"Stay here, I'll take of care of old needle nose for now." He told her, quickly blasting off for Snively's robot.

Back on the other side, Snively fired laser after laser at Manic, but continued to miss.

"Hold still, you…!" the small tyrant shouted, hitting the button rapidly. Snively attempts however were again unsuccessful, as the green hedgehog was too quick on his board.

Just then, Sonic came running towards the Mega Swatbot. "Time to put this thing away." he said firmly.

In spite of his speed, Sonic was unable to get there in time, as Snively finally hit Manic's hover board from the backend with one well timed shot, quickly causing it to lose altitude and rapidly descend to the ground below.

"Manic!"

Thankfully, Manic was able to bring down his wounded board, but he unfortunately had to crash land it, skidding across the floor on his chest.

Snively now grinned at the blue hedgehog now in front of him and said, "Surrender or I'll do the same to you!"

"Over my dead body!" Sonic answered boldly, taking off towards the Mega Swatbot.

Snively instantly put the laser cannon on rapid fire again, determined to blast his foe to bits.

While this was going on, Sonia finally cleared her head and slowly stood up. She then commented with deep concern, "Oh man, it's not looking good at all. There's gotta be something I can do to help."

Moments later, Manic came running over to her. "You ok, sis?"

"I guess so, but we won't be for long if we can't put an end to this madness."

"I know what you mean." The green hedgehog commented with a frown. "That creep short just circuited my board."

Meanwhile, Sonic was doing all he could to get past Snively's lasers, but it was becoming more difficult with every passing second

His siblings watched from a distance, feeling completely helpless.

"Is there no stopping this metal monster?" Manic inquired

"I don't know, but there's gotta be something we can … huh?" Sonia then glanced to the right and saw something glowing in the metal pile next to her.

"What's up, sis?" the green hedgehog asked her.

"There's something shining in here…" she commented, putting her hand in the pile and feeling around inside.

Within moments, Sonia pulled out Sonic's missing Power Ring.

The two hedgehogs quickly gasped in awe, as they immediately recognized what it was.

"Sis, its one of Uncle Chuck's Power Rings."

"Then we must get this to Sonic immediately." Sonia said firmly.

Back on the other side, Snively and Sonic continued their duel. The blue hedgehog during this time ran around the area as fast as he could, trying to avoid getting hit by the rapid fire lasers, but Snively was getting closer to taking him down with every shot.

"Resistance is futile, hedgehog!" Snively taunted at him. "You're wasting your time trying to outwit me again!"

Sonic though completely ignored his words, as he soon ran under his legs to try and confuse him. But

Even so, the small tyrant saw it coming and quickly had his laser in position.

At the precise second, Snively fired rapid lasers at the exact spot he would come out. As planned, he hit the blue hedgehog directly from behind with solid accuracy, sending him into the air, where he quickly came skidding across the floor face first.

"YES! I've got you now!" he shouted victoriously, quickly pointing the cannon at his current location

Sonic though immediately got up and took off before any of the lasers could hit him, now heading for a junk pile nearby to get a small breather.

"You won't get away that easily, rodent!" Snively said, chasing after him.

Sonic meanwhile began to gasp for air, as he was now exhausted inside. He knew he couldn't keep this up for much longer.

"Man, how am I gonna get us out of this mess?" he said, breathing heavily. "That's mondo bot's got me and my sibs on the ropes!"

Seconds later, Manic and Sonia came running towards him

"What's up, sibs?" the blue hedgehog asked

"Look what we found." Manic said, showing the ring

Sonic's face instantly brightened. "All right, now I can put old Snurvley on ice!"

Just then, a charged up laser blast came flying in towards the three hedgehogs, forcing them to duck underneath it to keep from getting hit.

"Knock, knock, Freedom Fighters!" Snively said boldly.

"Take cover, guys." Sonic said "I'll handle old needle nose from here on out."

Manic and Sonia immediately complied with his orders, quickly taking off to get out of the line of fire.

"Are you ready to say uncle like your siblings, hedgehog?"

"Not today, shrimp boat!"

Sonic then showed him his Power Ring and held it high in the air.

Snively immediately gasped in horror. "Oh no, not that thing again!"

The small tyrant instantly began to fire lasers in rapid succession at Sonic to try and knock the ring out of his hands a second time.

This time however, the blue hedgehog anticipated this and took off before it could even touch him.

"Come back here, you troublemaker!"

Once Sonic was at a safe enough distance, he lifted it high in the air again, and powered up.

Snively finally caught up with him, but saw he now too late to stop his foe now, again putting the small dictator into a panic.

"Time to do it to it, Shorty!" the blue hedgehog declared confidently.

Sonic instantly blasted off and headed straight for Snively's large machine.

In sheer desperation, the small tyrant fired everything he had at Sonic to try and slow him down, but it was completely futile. The Power Ring's speed was just too much for him to handle.

Within seconds, the blue hedgehog began to run rings around his robot at blistering speeds. As a result of this, the velocity of his speed sent the Mega Swatbot spinning violently in circles.

"I'll get you for this, rodent!" Snively shouted, now starting to get dizzy inside.

Sonic then charged the huge robot at full speed as it spun around, where he slammed into its chest with speed and power, causing it to crash onto the ground thanks to a perfectly timed sonic spin dash in one swift motion.

His siblings during this time cheered from the sidelines as they watched.

"And now, for the grand finale!" the blue hedgehog stated, revving up his legs again.

Instantly he blasted off towards the Mega Swatbot and did another whirlwind attack, this time making it much larger thanks to the Power Ring.

A giant tornado soon appeared, taking the Mega Swatbot and Snively high into the air, spinning violently inside of it.

"I hate you, Sonic!" Snively yelled, starting to get very nauseous.

Once the Mega Swatbot was high enough in the air for Sonic's tastes, he stopped the whirlwind attack and let the giant robot fall to the floor.

Snively screamed loudly in a deep horror as he plunged towards the ground. Within seconds, The Mega Swatbot crashed onto the floor hard, breaking into pieces as it exploded.

"Yes! Adios, Mega Swatbutt!" Sonic said, putting his hand high in the air. "Chalk up one victory for the Freedom Fighters!"


	7. A Bittersweet Aftermath

Chapter 7: A bittersweet aftermath

After seeing the robot totaled, his siblings ran up to him for a group hug.

"You did it, Sonic!" Sonia cheered while embracing him.

"Did you ever doubt me, sis?" Sonic replied boasting.

Before she could reply back, Manic commented, giving his brother a high five, "Man, that was way too close for comfort."

"Tell me about it…" Sonic remarked firmly. "But the point is, we beat him together." He then added after a small pause while looking at them intently, And for that, I couldn't be prouder to have you guys as my brother and sister."

Again, the three hedgehogs embraced each other tightly. It was a touching moment to say the least.

Seven seconds later into their embrace, Sonic and his siblings heard a familiar voice from a distance.

"Sonic, you guys ok?" Sally asked running up to them.

Soon all the Freedom Fighters joined them, except for Dulcy, who was still transferring the citizens out of Robotropolis.

"Did you guys beat em, Sonic?" Tails asked.

"We sure did, T2." The blue hedgehog answered, beaming with pride. "See for yourself."

The others quickly turned their heads, and there they saw the wrecked Swatbot too.

"Way to go, Sugarhogs!" Bunnie commented with a smile, congratulating them while holding her hands together in front of her face. "That was really something!"

Sally meanwhile walked up to Manic and Sonia and hugged them tightly, saying with gratitude, "Thanks for all your help, guys. We couldn't have pulled this off without you."

She then took Sonic aside and told him with a flirtatiously smile, while looking him in the eye "Once again, you never fail to deliver in the clutch. Here's a little token of my appreciation for your valiant efforts."

In one smooth swoop, Sally quickly put her arms around him and leaned in to kiss him passionately on the lips.

"Aw Sal, did ya have to do that in front of everyone?" Sonic asked, blushing

"Hey, if the reward fits…"

Ironically, Sonic wasn't the only one getting some affection for his efforts.

Sonia soon spotted Bartleby from the back of the group, where she then walked over to him and gave her fiancé a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you were able to make it out of there in one piece." Sonia commented, smiling at the upper class mink. "I was very worried about your safety after I left to help my brother."

Bartleby ironically did not hug her back with the same enthusiasm, making the female hedgehog look at him peculiarly after she let go.

"Is something wrong? Sonia inquired with arched eyebrows.

Bartleby then let out a heavy sigh, replying while shaking his head, "I don't know how to say it without upsetting you somewhat."

"Try me…" the female hedgehog told him firmly, crossing her arms together. "Just tell me what's on your mind and I'll try to understand."

While he stuttered and mumbled to try and explain his current feelings from a distance, Bunnie meanwhile gave Manic her own personal hug, commenting while looking him in the eye, "That was some real fancy flying I saw you doing back there against that nasty big bot, Sugarhog."

"Eh, it was nothing really…" Manic replied with a slight blush, shrugging his shoulders. "Just doing what I do best."

"So where are the civilians?" the blue hedgehog inquired.

"Back in Knothole. Dulcy's transferring the last ones back there now." Sally explained. Well, the ones that would go anyway…"

As it turned out, the only ones who didn't go was of course Bartleby, along with Vanilla and Cream.

It was then Sonic noticed Cream and Vanilla's sad faces while glancing to his left, making him ask the squirrel Princess, "Did something happen while we were away? How come they look so mondo sad?"

Sally replied shaking her head with a somber sigh, "Big still hasn't turned up yet. Bunnie and Cream searched the entire building, but found nothing."

Sonic was now in deep thought, as Sally added sullenly, "I won't deny it, but I'm very worried about him too. For him to disappear like without any trace… it can't be a good sign at all."

Not surprisingly, Sonic couldn't disagree with that assessment at all.

The blue hedgehog then asked after a long pause, "So where's my parents and Uncle Chuck now?"

"They're on the hilltop ahead." She told him. "After we escaped from the main building, we laid a clever trap when came after us again and then tied them down with chains."

As Sonic looked on with a smile of relief, Sally added, "Although, we weren't able to capture Cyrus, his men or Bert Whoo."

"What about the virus?" the blue hedgehog inquired further.

Sally sighed and answered while shaking her head, "Sorry, Sonic. Your Uncle Chuck stopped me before I could activate it. He even almost ripped Nicole's wires out when dragging me out of the room."

Sonic was now in deep thought, as he soon said to her as a means of support, "It's cool, Sal. We'll get it right the next mission."

"I just hope Snively doesn't find it on the hard drive and then tries to neutralize its effects first." Sally commented after a brief pause. "If he finds out about that program on his main hard drive, who knows what he'll do with it?"

"I think you're giving old needle nose a little too much credit, Sal. Besides, he's toast in that hunk of junk over there."

He then put his arm around her, saying softly, C'mon, let's go home."

"Sonic, we can't leave without finding Big first." Sally objected heavily. "He means a lot to Vanilla and Cream."

The blue hedgehog immediately slightly slapped his forehead for that inconsiderate suggestion on his part, but replied nonetheless, "Yea, you're right… Still, we're in a dangerous spot now, being out in the open. We need to get most of our comrades and civilians out of the line of fire in case of another group of roboticized civilians try to ambush us again."

Sally sadly couldn't argue with that assessment. She then said to him after pondering it over deeply, "Well, how about you and your siblings look for Big while the rest of us take the shelter civilians to safety? Once they're safe in Knothole, we'll come give you a hand."

Sonic nodded his head in agreement at her suggestion, as he then went to towards Manic and Sonia to tell them about Sally's plan.

However, before he could say one word about it to them, everyone nearby heard commotion from within the Swatbot wreckage.

"What in Mobius was that?" Sonic inquired with arched eyebrows, turning his head back towards it.

Within moments, the rest of them did too, looking on deeply concerned.

Their facial expressions though quickly changed to shock and horror in less than five seconds. Right before their eyes, they saw Snively emerge from his destroyed machine, staggering out of it with a moderate limp.

As a result of the crash, he had even suffered several facial cuts, even many bruises to his body.

"I don't believe this," the blue hedgehog stated in deep disgust. "Doesn't he ever give up?"

Snively soon stopped after a half a dozen steps, where he then began to breathe heavily, looking his opponents in the eye with rage.

"You…. vile hedgehog!" he said in a raspy tone of voice, clinching both his fists tightly while at his sides. "I swear you'll pay for this!"

"It's over, Snurvley." Sonic declared to him boldly, pointing a finger at the small dictator "You're toast now without your mondo bot."

"Maybe so, but I'm not going down with a fight." Snively shot back.

"Why don't you take a hint, you maniac?" Sally argued, putting her hands at her sides. "Your plans are shot, and your main forces are incapacitated."

"Not for long they won't be! It won't be long before they're defrosted. If I were you, I'd get out of here before you feel my wrath."

"So, you're actually letting us go, eh Snobley? That's a first…"

"I'm not letting you go, blue boy," Snively countered. "I'm warning you to go before I sic them on your miserable hides!"

Sally though put her foot down, saying sharply, "We're not going anywhere until you tell us where Big is first!"

"Who?"

"The mondo purple cat you took prisoner during your raid of the shelter." Sonic reiterated, crossing his arms together. "Don't play dumb with us!"

"Oh him…?" Snively quickly furrowed his brow and replied with contempt in his voice, "I thought that dumb oaf escaped with the rest of the furballs who managed to flee from my clutches after she blasted my roboticizers!"

He had pointed to Bunnie when referring to the she part of his sentence.

Snively then added coldly to them, "If you don't know where he is, that's your problem, not mine."

"You better tell us where he is if you don't want me to triple spin your hide!" Sonic told him sharply.

At first, Snively looked at him in a bit of panic. He was clearly at a disadvantage without his Mega Swatbot.

However, his emotional state was soon composed, as he saw Cyrus and three of his guards coming towards them from the north, running to his aide.

"Ha! You'll have to get past them first if you'll want to do that!" the small dictator countered, pointing towards the roboticized lion and his comrades.

Soon, they too saw them coming towards them as well, making the blue hedgehog's eyes arch.

To make things even more complicated, Cyrus and his guards still had their weapons from the shelter in hand to help out their new leader.

"Ta ta, Freedom Fighters…" Snively mocked, waving his right hand.

And with that statement, the small dictator made a run for it.

"Oh no you don't!" Sonic shouted at him. "You're not getting away from us that easily!"

Sonic then blasted off towards him to take pin down his foe to the ground.

Unfortunately, he would not succeed.

Cyrus by this time was in perfect position, hitting him directly from the right side with a perfectly timed mega muck bomb.

"Sonic!" his comrades shouted in horror.

Thankfully, the bomb did not injure him upon impact, but instead trapped him from the waist down in the sticky substance.

As the blue hedgehog struggled mightily to get free of the mega muck, Snively laughed heartily at his current predicament, commenting with a chortle, "Ha! Looks like Cyrus is faster than you, hedgehog! See ya…!"

Snively again took off to leave, this time completely unhindered.

Sally during this time was angered by this new turn of events, as she was very tempted to tackle Snively to the ground herself.

However, with Cyrus and his guards now firing multiple lasers at the Freedom Fighters from their handheld guns in several different directions, that would not happen.

"Quick, we have to take them down at once!" Sally ordered her comrades.

"But what about Snively?" Sonia inquired. "We can't just let him get away!"

"I don't think we have a choice in the matter." The squirrel Princess replied firmly, ducking underneath several laser attacks "If we don't deal with Cyrus and his men first, Sonic and the civilians could get injured in the process by their attacks."

Sonia couldn't argue with that one logic bit, especially with her brother stuck in mega muck.

So, she took a deep breath, saying, "Very well then…"

Sonia then ran towards Sonic to help him get free.

As she did this, Sally told her comrades while running towards the roboticized soldiers, "C'mon, guys, we'll need to work together to pull this off."

Not surprisingly, Antoine immediately cringed at the thought of this, even biting his nails in fear.

However, with the others immediately complying with her orders, the French coyote knew he would be looked down upon if he didn't give a hand.

Sonia meanwhile during this time finally got close enough to her brother to help pull him out of the muck, evading any laser attacks that came her way in the process.

"Hang on, bro. I'm coming." She said as she ran.

Once she stood nearby him, the blue hedgehog stated in frustration, "About time you got here… it's all I can do to keep from getting hit by those mondo lasers."

Sonia then grabbed her brother by the shoulder and prepared to pull him out, that is until she glanced to her right and saw Cyrus coming for them, now with another mega muck bomb in hand.

Realizing she couldn't pull him out without risking herself getting trapped, Sonia quickly left her brother to deal with the roboticized lion.

"Hey, where ya going?" Sonic demanded with arched eyebrows.

"Sorry, Sonic…" Sonia replied, running toward Cyrus. "I have to take him down first before I can safely pull you out."

Sonia's timing turned out to be near letter perfect, as she was able to get his attention instead of her trapped brother.

As she drew closer towards him, Cyrus prepared to heave the mega muck bomb at her.

Nevertheless, the female hedgehog was ready with her counter measures. She would attack him high if he tossed it low near her legs and visa-versa.

Two seconds later, Cyrus attacked high, aiming for her chest.

Sonia however countered it with a perfectly timed baseball styled slide feet first, sliding directly beneath the attack.

Then, once she was within range, Sonia tripped up the roboticized lion with her right foot in one quick swoop on the ground back first.

After he was knocked to the ground, the female hedgehog quickly went for his gun to disarm him.

However, Cyrus wasn't about to let her get to it.

The second she tried to grab it, he quickly backhanded her away to the right side with his right metal hand.

In spite of the big hit to her side of her head, Sonia quickly got up and charged towards the roboticized lion again.

Cyrus meanwhile aimed his laser gun at her while she ran towards him and tried to injure her further.

Shooting laser after laser at her in rapid succession, Sonia refused to back down, moving from left to right to evade the attacks.

Then, once she was close enough, Sonia faked him low to get him to aim for the ground. As soon as he bit, the female hedgehog jumped into the air, quickly assaulting him with a roundhouse kick underneath his chin.

Again, Cyrus hit the ground hard with a thud. Even his gun was knocked out of his hands.

Nevertheless, Cyrus would still not go down quietly.

When Sonia tried to grab his gun again, the roboticized lion tackled her from behind, as the two of them soon began to wrestle with each other to subdue the other.

While this was going on, Sally told her comrades as they ran, "Don't hurt them in anyway. Just keep them busy until Sonia has freed Sonic from the mega muck."

The Freedom Fighters did just, as they all soon surrounded the roboticized guards from all angles, trying to heavily confuse them.

Even Antoine got into the act for the sake of his reputation.

However, fifteen seconds into her plan, Sally then noticed Sonic was still not free from his mega muck. She soon found out why, as Sonia and Cyrus were in a heavy grappling match about ten feet away.

Seeing her in trouble, Sally quickly instructed to Bunnie, who was in the process of trying to manhandle the roboticized St. Doberman, "Sonia's going to need some your assistance at once. Cyrus is keeping her from freeing Sonic out of the mega muck."

Bunnie at first thought of arguing with her about it, especially since she was in a grappling match of her own. However, realizing time was not on their side, the cyborg rabbit quickly complied with her directives, as she used her metal elbow to stun Sgt. Doberman.

After he slightly recoiled from her attack, Bunnie grabbed him tightly by the right metal arm and swung him around.

Timing it down perfectly, she then flung towards the other two guards, causing the roboticized Doberman to crash heavily into them, where they all fell to the ground in a heap.

Once that was done, Bunnie ran towards Sonia, saying, "Keep an eye on them until I come back, y'all…"

Meanwhile, on the right side, Sonia and Cyrus continued to struggle, as the roboticized said to her in a monotone voice, "Resistance is futile, hedgehog. You cannot defeat me."

"We'll see about that, bozo!" the female hedgehog retorted.

Sadly, Cyrus would back up his words, as he soon got the upper hand, pushing her off of him and onto the ground, flat on her back.

Cyrus then grabbed his gun from the floor about five feet away and prepared to zap her with it intensely… that is he was blinded sided on the back of the head by a metal foot from behind.

Bunnie thankfully came in the nick of time to aid the female hedgehog before she could be injured further, as she sent Cyrus crashing to the ground chest first with a well-timed flying roundhouse kick.

The cyborg rabbit then ran towards Sonia, who thankfully was not hit by the roboticized lion's fall, and helped her onto her feet.

"Y'all all right, Sonia?" Bunnie inquired of her.

Sonia though didn't answer that question, replying, "Never mind me, go help Sonic. He's then one who needs your help the most now."

"Right…"

As she ran towards the blue hedgehog, Bunnie said to Sonia, "Keep Cyrus off my back in the meantime, ok?"

"Will do…"

Sonia quickly grabbed his gun and watched the roboticized lion closely.

Bunnie meanwhile ran towards Sonic, saying, "Sit tight, Sugarhog, you'll be out of there soon."

Sonic was tempted to make a comment in response to show his frustration, but didn't get the chance, as the cyborg rabbit strongly, but carefully pulled him out of the heavy sticky substance before he could.

Once he was on the ground, the blue hedgehog told her with a slight smile, "Thanks, Bunnie… looks I owe you one again."

"My pleasure, Sugar…" Bunnie replied with a giggle. "Now, let's go help out Sally girl and the others."

"You just read my mind." Sonic said with a firm expression on his face. "Let's slam and ram."

And with that statement, the blue hedgehog ran off.

Sonia meanwhile during this time had Cyrus' gun in hand and did indeed keep a close eye on him.

However, while Bunnie helped pull Sonic out of the mega muck, the roboticized lion soon stood up and glared at them, saying in loud monotone voice, "Terminate, Freedom Fighters!"

Seeing the eerie red glow in his eyes while he said this, Sonia knew he was dead serious about his intentions.

So, thinking fast, she fired laser after laser at his metal body to try and stun him.

Sadly, the lasers had no effect on Cyrus, as they weren't strong enough to even put a scratch in his structure. What it did though however, was get his attention, where the roboticized lion now turned to attack Sonia again.

Fortunately for Sonia though, Cyrus wouldn't get the chance to even touch her, as Sonic finally came rushing in and blindsided him from the left side of his head, again abruptly knocking him to the ground in one swoop.

After Sonic landed on the ground, he told Bunnie, who by now had caught up, "Hold him down for me while I take care of the others."

The cyborg rabbit did indeed just that. Even Sonia gave her a hand to keep Cyrus pinned on the ground.

Back on the other side during this time, Sally's plan was sadly beginning to show its cracks. In spite of the fact Bunnie had knocked Cyrus' three guards to the ground earlier to buy her friends some time, they unfortunately soon adjusted to the Princess' strategy after standing up and instead began to target the Freedom Fighters, one at a time.

Multiple fire lasers soon began to zing around their heads in rapid succession, forcing them to take evasive action.

Even so, several of the Freedom Fighters were not able to keep their fur completely clean.

Tails, during his time in the air had his two tails singed by several oncoming lasers from below, almost making him lose control and fall to the ground.

Even Antoine, being near the back of the group, wouldn't be able to escape unscathed either, as several lasers also did a number on his toupee, putting several holes in it.

Not surprisingly, the French coyote screamed in horror at this turn of events, grasping his tarnished hair with his hand.

Ironically, Manic would end up getting the worst of it. Since his board was officially out of commission, he was not as agile on the ground, and it sadly showed.

Several lasers soon zapped him in the forehead, knocking him onto the ground.

"Manic!" Sally quickly ran to his aide, though she had a whale of a time trying to keep herself from getting hit in the process.

She then knelt down near him, asking him with concern, "You all right?"

Manic though didn't get a chance to answer, as the roboticized Sgt. Doberman soon broke through the ranks and pointed his gun at the two of them while towering over them from the side.

Rotor then tried to fend him off, jumping on his back to try and keep the metal Doberman distracted in order to help his friends escape.

Unfortunately, the purple walrus' valiant efforts would be in vain, as Sgt. Doberman shoved him off hard within two seconds with his right hand, knocking him flat on his back.

Once he hit the floor, Sgt. Doberman turned back to his prey to attack.

But again, he would not get the chance, as Sonic finally came onto the scene and did what he does best… be a hero.

The blue hedgehog knocked Sgt. Doberman to the ground with a strong spin dash in one swift swoop.

The second he hit the ground with a thud face first, Sonic told his comrades loudly, "Stand back, I'm going to spin these guys around to buy us some time."

His comrades instantly complied with his orders, as each one got out of harm's way.

Even so, Cyrus' remaining guards still tried hard to inflict more harm on them, continuing to shoot their lasers in rapid succession.

Thankfully, none of the laser attacks hit any of the Freedom Fighters or the civilians nearby while made a run for it.

Seconds later, Sonic was now the only one standing in the way of Cyrus' guards. He then told them firmly after the three of them glared at him intently, "You're going to have to go through me if you want them."

Not surprisingly, they took him up on his words, now reaching for some mega muck bombs.

In spite of the risk, Sonic's composure didn't waver in the least. He instead waited for them to get closer and attempt to heave their bombs.

Once he saw them trying to heave their mega muck bombs, Sonic instantly sprang into action, where he then ran circles around them to heavily confuse Snively's new guards.

As planned, their eyes soon began to spin in a heavy daze.

Sonic then ran towards them and grabbed one of the mega muck bombs from their hands, saying, "I'll take that, thank you…"

After it was securely in his pocket, the blue hedgehog immediately went to work, as he attempted a moderate sonic tornado attack on the three of them to stun Cyrus' guards even further.

Sure enough, they quickly began to spin violently around inside the tornado at blazing speeds, taking them even five feet into the air in the process, where they soon hit the ground with a loud thud.

Seeing the roboticized guards in a piled heap and in a heavy daze, Sonic dusted his hands together, commenting, "That takes care of them. Now to help Bunnie and Sonia…"

The blue hedgehog then turned to give them a hand, that is until he heard Sally shout at him from a distance, "Behind you!"

Sonic quickly turned around, and there he Cyrus charging towards him at full speed. As it turned out, the roboticized lion had surprisingly broke free of Sonia and Bunnie's grasp, even retrieving his laser gun in the process.

Sonic however held his ground, as he methodically grabbed the mega muck bomb from his pocket and prepared to heave it at Cyrus. Once he was within five feet of him, the blue hedgehog put his next plan into action.

Evading every laser shot that came his way, the blue hedgehog then ran towards him, where he quickly jumped high into the air when he was close enough.

Then, in another quick swoop, Sonic tossed the bomb at his feet from behind.

Thanks to another well-timed attack on his part, the bomb hit Cyrus directly on the back of his metal legs, trapping him in mega muck from the knees up.

In spite of this new setback, Cyrus still tried hard to get free and attack his prey, but was not able to.

Sonic then disarmed him again to render the roboticized lion completely useless, as he swiped the laser gun from his hand with another quick swoop.

"I'm sorry I had to do this to you." Sonic explained to Cyrus with a look of sadness on his face. "But I can't have you hurting my friends."

Not surprisingly, the roboticized lion growled fiercely at the blue hedgehog after his gun was taken from him. He even tried to take a couple of swipes with his metal claws.

Realizing time was running out, Sonic didn't waste any more time on him, as he immediately left to help out his remaining comrades on the battlefield.

After running over to Sonia and Bunnie, he asked them after seeing they were now on their feet again, "You gals all right?"

"We're fine, bro." Sonia told him softly, dusting herself off. "Don't worry about us."

"C'mon, Sugarhog." Bunnie added. "Let's go meet up with the others before Snively sics those nasty bots on us."

And with those words, the three of them ran for it.

Soon they arrived on the hilltop, where Sonic saw his roboticized family members struggling to get loose from their chains.

Seeing their condition soon made him sad again, as he said to them softly, "Don't worry guys; we'll find a way to get you back to normal." He soon added with deep doubt, "I hope…"

Moments later, Sally looked in her infrared binoculars from the hill, announcing, "Guys, Snively's just finished defrosting his army. They'll be coming for us any minute now."

Sonic then muttered under his breath while shaking his head, "Just perfect… "

"Are you sure you and your siblings alone can find Big among this large robot army?" the princess squirrel inquired.

"We've got to, Sal." Sonic replied. He then added while pointing at the two rabbits, "For their sake…"

"Very well then…" Sally said with a sigh. "I'll take another look around to try and see how many they are while you get your siblings together for the rescue mission."

Sonic soon met up with Manic, where he was still reeling from the laser burn to his forehead from earlier.

Seeing the pained look on his face, Sonic inquired of him, "Are you going to be able to help us out, Manic man?"

"Yea, I'll be fine…" Manic answered, still rubbing the sore spot on his head "Just an irritating burn is all…"

Sonic then motioned Sonia over and said, "Ok, guys, here's what we're going to do… I'll go first and clear us a path, keeping the main forces busy. Then you guys head east and west around the city to search around the area for Big. If things get too dicey, head back to the center of Robotropolis where I'll be and we'll work out another plan from there."

"Got it." Sonia replied.

"Wait a sec…" Manic argued. "How am I going to fight? I don't have my board with me anymore."

Sonic soon realized this was true, but soon remembered the laser gun he had from Cyrus and reached out to hand it to him, saying, "Use this then. It should at the very least help you stun those Swat…"

Sonic though couldn't finish that sentence, as Sally gasped out loud in deep horror during her scouting with the infrared glasses, saying with a whimper, "Oh, no…"

The three hedgehogs, along with the others, soon turned around, with Sonic asking her in a bit of a panic, "What is it, Sal? What do you see…?"

Sally at first didn't answer, but soon did while her lower lip quivered, "We're too late…"

"What do you mean we're too late?" Sonia demanded, placing her hands at her hips.

Again, Sally didn't speak at first, replying after another brief pause, "Guys, I think we better go… There's nothing we can do now."

"Would you stop talking in riddles already?" Sonic said with disgust, placing his hands at his waists. "What did you see?"

Realizing there was only one way to explain it, Sally handed him the infrared goggles, and there he too saw what had horrified her.

He then said with a fierce hiss under his breath, "You dirty metal junkbots… When I get back on the battlefield, I'm going to…"

Cream by this time finally walked up to them, asking with an interruption, "What did you see? Why are you so quiet all of a sudden?"

Sally soon knelt at her eye level, saying with a tear in her eye, "Honey, I'm so sorry, but I'm afraid Snively beat us to him. He's…. now…"

Sally sadly couldn't finish her sentence, as it was killing her inside to try and say it.

Cream though persisted, as she grabbed the infrared binoculars from Sonic's hands and said with a furrowed brow, "What are you guys talking abou…?

Within a split second, she saw it too, making her abruptly drop the infrared binoculars, shell shocked…

"No… Big…" she whimpered with watershed eyes. "This can't be happening! Please someone tell me I didn't just see my big brother become a robot slave!"

Sadly, it was no joke. Big was now roboticized, walking towards the Freedom Fighters with the Swatbots. The dumb bots were right behind them, laughing heartily at what they had to done to large purple and white cat.

Even Vanilla couldn't believe her eyes either. She too was in tears over seeing Big's current fate.

Sally then grabbed Cream's right hand, saying softly, "Let's go, honey. We don't have a…"

Cream though wrenched away from her grasp, shouting at Sonic nearby her, "How could you let this happen to him? Aren't you supposed to be the hero of this planet?"

Sonic not surprisingly had no words to say in response. He instead looked away shaking his head.

Cream then turned to Bunnie, shouting at her still in the midst of a heaving cry, "And you… You lied to me! You said you destroyed those robotizing chambers, but that obviously wasn't the case because he's now a robot!"

"Honey, I swear to you I thought for sure they were destroyed." The cyborg rabbit explained. "If I thought for a second one of them was still operational, I would have…"

"I don't want to hear anymore of your lies!" Cream yelled, interrupting her. "Because of you, I lost my big brother!"

Instantly, Cream broke down on the spot and sobbed openly in front of them.

Realizing she was the only one that would let her soothe her daughter's emotional state, Vanilla picked her daughter up and placed her on her shoulder, and patted her gently on the back, trying to help her calm down.

At that moment, both Sonic and Sally, along with the other Freedom Fighters felt awful inside. To see Cream cry that hard broke their hearts.

In spite of this though, Sally picked up her infrared goggles and scouted the area again. By now, the Snively's army was less than fifty feet from the hill and closing fast.

She then said to her team, "We gotta move now, guys, or we'll be taken captive too."

Bunnie, Rotor, and Antoine then picked up Sonic's roboticized family members and bolted. Unfortunately, while they were carrying them. Uncle Chuck and Sonic's parents broke free of their chains, as well as out of their grasps.

"Oh no!" Sonic stated shocked.

"Detain Freedom Fighters!" the three of them declared loudly in a monotone voice.

"Grab them, guys!" Sally ordered

Antoine and Rotor then tried to restrain Sonic's parents, but were unable to, as they were too elusive and too strong.

Bunnie though was able to restrain Uncle Chuck since she could extend her metal arm and securely grab him, slowly but methodically taking the roboticized hedgehog away.

Seconds later however, Jules and Bernadette headed towards Sonia and Manic saying, "Detain Freedom Fighters!"

"Mom, Dad, It's us!" they pleaded, trying to reason with them. "Please try to fight through it."

Sadly, their words were useless. Snively's transmitter had them completely under his control.

Then without warning, Snively's Swatbots finally arrived on the hilltop.

"You are under arrest!" they declared.

"Run for it, guys!" Sally shouted, taking off.

"But what about my parents?" Sonic asked, still holding his ground.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to leave them." Sally replied, coming to a stop now.

"NO! We can't!" The blue hedgehog protested. "We can't let Snively use them again for his evil purposes!"

"Sonic, we don't have a choice." Sally argued back. "I'm sorry, but there's too many to fight."

As the Swatbots began shooting their lasers at them, most of the Freedom Fighters had fled for the secret exit, as well as the civilians. The only ones left now were Sally, Sonic and his two siblings.

"I'll take care of the Swatbots." Sonic said to others, "You grab Mom and Dad."

"Right." Manic said.

Sonic then took off and kept the Swatbots busy, avoiding their lasers that came near his head and knocking several to the ground with another triple spin attack.

Manic and Sonia meanwhile tried hard to restrain their parents, but it was futile, they were too fast and strong for them. So much in fact, that the Jules and Bernadette soon restrained them instead.

"You are now prisoners of Snively the great." Jules said, in a monotone voice.

"Oh no!" Sonic gasped, turning his head. "I gotta save them!"

The blue hedgehog quickly ran back and knocked his parents down as lightly as possible, freeing his siblings from their clutches.

"Thanks, bro." Manic said relieved.

"Grab them, and let's vamoose!" Sonic ordered.

Unfortunately, the entire Swatbot army now came swarming in on the three Freedom Fighters, making that move next to impossible.

"Run for it, sibs!" Sonic shouted to them.

Manic and Sonia at first didn't want to, but they realized they had no choice.

While they escaped, the blue hedgehog bought them some extra time, knocking several down with a spin attack. Then he did another whirlwind attack to send some more Swatbots flying into the air and crash with a thud.

But again they were too many to fight alone, and Sonic knew it.

"We have to go now, Sonic!" Sally told him from a distance.

"I can't… do it." He said with a whimper. Even now, he couldn't let his parents go for now.

"Would you rather end up in the roboticizer?" she argued sharply.

Hearing that quickly snapped him to attention, saying with a heavy sigh, "You're right, Sal." He then added while revving his legs, "Outta here!

And with that statement, he blasted off.

Once he arrived at the exit, he saw Manic and Sonia standing near it

"What are you guys still doing here?" he inquired.

"Waiting for you." Sonia answered. "We didn't want to escape without making sure you did too…"

"Oh, never mind. Quick, into this tree stump." Sonic said, opening it up.

The three hedgehogs then jumped inside the hole, with Sonic sealing the entrance before Snively and the Swatbots arrived on the scene.

"BLAST IT! They've escaped." Snively shouted after realizing he had lost them. "But no matter, they'll be back. After all, I still have Sonic's parents as my slaves!"

Seeing there was nothing more he could, Snively and his robotic army headed back to the city.

On the way back, Scratch chuckled to himself, _We sure showed that pathetic hedgehog! He may have escaped and defeated the boss' big robot, but we got the final laugh in the end! One of his new friends lost a dear family member to the roboticizer!_

Even Grounder and Coconuts had a big smile on their face. It warmed the goggles of their metal hearts to drive Cream to tears.


	8. Epilouge

Chapter 8: Epilogue

Minutes later, all the Freedom Fighters were back in the Great Forest. Once they walked inside of it, Uncle Chuck's eyes changed from glowing red to normal. He was now out of range of Snively's wave transmitter.

"What happened?" he asked, shaking his head. "Last thing I remember was seeing Sally getting ready to install the virus. Next thing I know, my own body was taken over abruptly and made me grab Sally and carry her to another room against me own will."

"Snively took control of you in Robotropolis." Sonic answered sadly. "He almost made you roboticize her too."

"Oh, no…" Charles to say the least was deeply disturbed by this.

"It's ok, Sir Charles." Sally said, hugging him tightly. "It wasn't your fault."

In spite of her reassurances, Charles was anything but relieved instead. Instead, he commented with a heavy sigh, "I guess this means I won't be going on anymore missions for the time being since I'm now a liability."

"Even if that is true…" Sally reiterated softly. "You're still a valuable member of the team."

As the roboticized hedgehog pondered this over, Sally added a few seconds later, "Don't ever forget that, ok?"

For the next minute, nobody said a word, as everyone's mind was still trying to digest the recent battle. The only commotion was Cream softly sobbing to herself in her mother's arms, as she still was devastated inside by Big's roboticization.

Sally during this time couldn't help but feel deep pity for her. Even Bunnie did too, as she felt largely responsible for what had happened.

Soon after this, the squirrel princess glanced over to her right and saw looks of sadness on Sonic and his sibling's faces. She could sense what was troubling them.

"We came so close to bringing them back to Knothole," Manic commented out loud, shedding a few tears. "But we failed…"

"It'll be ok, Sugarhog." Bunnie said, putting her non robotic hand on his shoulder to try and comfort him. "We'll get em next time."

"I hope so…" Deep down though, the green hedgehog had very little hope, if any within him now.

"It won't be much further until we reach Knothole, everyone." Sally announced softly to the others ten seconds later.

A fourth of the way there, a look of tremendous guilt then came over Sonic.

"Are you ok?" Sally asked him

"What have we done, Sal?" he replied, looking at her intently. "We should have listened to my Uncle Chuck. Because of our stubbornness, we caused over sixty five civilians to their freedom." He then added with a sniffle, "We even cost that young rabbit her adopted brother…"

Sally at first was silent inside, as she didn't know how to answer him. She knew deep down he was right.

Nevertheless, she put her arm around him and said softly to try and soothe his troubled emotions, "We both knew this would be a big risk when we first arrived at the shelter. And even though it did end in disaster, at least we were able to bring your brother and sister to Knothole, just like your Mom and Dad wanted us 's at least one bright spot out of this whole mess, right"

Hearing that made the blue hedgehog feel a little better, but he still felt deep sadness inside. He then stopped walking and proclaimed boldly to her, "I'm gonna make Snively deeply pay for all the pain he caused to those in the shelter. He will not get away with this!"

"I know…" Sally said, "Trust me, we're all gonna get a piece of that weasel soon enough. But until that day comes, I need you to keep a level head here. Can you do that for me?"

Sonic then slightly smiled at her and replied with a nod, "Sure thing, Sal."

Three minutes later, all the Freedom Fighters arrived at Knothole.

"Welcome to your new home." Sally said to Manic and Sonia.

The two hedgehogs gazed at the place in awe. It may not have been as beautiful as their shelter, but being with their brother Sonic was now the important thing.

"I know this is probably not a good time to say this," Sally said, "But I want you to know we're glad to have you as part of the Freedom Fighters now." She then hugged Manic and Sonia tightly, adding, "Welcome to the team, guys."

Her words didn't cheer them up at all, but they were touched by her thoughtfulness nonetheless.

A few moments later, Sonic then asked Sally, "So, what are we going to do about all the civilians we brought back here? We can't take care of all of them."

"True. That's why I'm going to get in contact with the other Freedom Fighter groups to help us share the load."

"Sounds like a solid plan, Sal."

The next day, the other Freedom Fighters groups arrived, and each one took about five civilians with them back to their base. The only ones who chose to stay behind were Roxy, Wes Weasley, and Vanilla with her daughter Cream.

As for Bartleby, he was not happy at all by the living conditions at Knothole. So much in fact, he made his feelings about it very clear to the Princess and his fiancé, Sonia, calling the place, "too dirty for his tastes."

Not surprisingly, Sonia was very displeased with his words after hearing them. She then looked him in the eye and said angrily, "How dare you talk bad about my brother's home! He and his friends saved you from the roboticizer, and you actually have the nerve to complain? Just who do you think you are anyway?"

Sally too was not pleased with Bartleby's words.

Bartleby though tried to use his charm and charisma to try and ease her emotions, replying "Sonia, my dear, please don't be angry with me. I meant no offense to you at all when saying that."

"So that's why you were so quiet and mumbling earlier when you knew about me going to Knothole…" Sonia concluded, glaring intently at the upper class mink "You didn't want to tell me how you really felt about this place!"

"I didn't because I do care about your feelings and wellbeing." Bartleby explained. "After all, you are my fiancé."

"Well, if I'm going to continue to be your fiancé, you'd better start taking a liking to this place and quickly." Sonia told him sharply. "This is my new home, and nothing you say is going to change my mind about it."

Sonic then spoke up, commenting softly to his sister near her right ear, "Uh, I don't mind to butt in to your personal discussion, but seriously, what were you thinking in dating this guy? He's a lameo, even more than Antoine."

Thankfully, Antoine didn't hear his words. Even so, Sonia shot back at him with a frown, "Sonic, please stay out of this. This is between me and Bartleby."

Sonic then shrugged his shoulders, reluctantly complying with her wishes.

Moments later, Sonia turned back to her fiancé, asking of him, "So, Bartleby, are you going to abide by my wishes, or not?"

Ironically, Bartleby still wasn't ready to concede, saying, "Sonia, listen… maybe we can work out some kind of compromise."

"Such as…?"

Bartleby then looked her and Sally in the eye, who was standing nearby and said, "Look, let me start off by saying that I do think you and the Princess are both smart, beautiful and gifted individuals."

Sally ironically was a bit flattered by his words, but Sonia wasn't in the least, as she quickly frowned at him. Sonic even frowned at him too.

"But, surely you won't think I'm in the wrong by saying we could certainly make this place more appealing to live in, right?" Bartleby said.

Sally now spoke up, inquiring while crossing her arms together, "And what do you suggest we do to make this place more appealing? After all, we really have to make do with what we have since Snively now rules the land."

"Indeed he does…" Bartleby replied, looking away awkwardly. "That's why I've come up with an idea to hopefully solve that problem."

"Oh yea…?" Sonic challenged, now crossing his arms as well. "And just what did you have in mind?"

At first, Bartleby hesitated to speak since he didn't know the idea would fly, but replied after a brief pause, "Well… I think it would be in everyone's best interest here if we perhaps negotiated with this ruffian Snively."

"SAY WHAT?" Sonic, along with Sonia and even Sally said this almost simultaneously.

"Are you crazy?" Sonia demanded. "You know we could never do that. There is no negotiating with that mad man. He wants us either dead or as his robot slaves."

"But you haven't even tried it before." Bartleby argued. "Surely we should give the negotiation idea one chance, right?"

Sally soon spoke up again, replying firmly, "No, Bartleby. Sonia's right. I've dealt with him and his psychotic uncle too many times in the past. You don't compromise with people like that. It's his way or the high way."

In spite of the fact Bartleby's suggestion was losing a lot of steam, he still wasn't ready to give it up. He then said after a long pause, "Well, maybe we could talk to him about maybe letting us stay unroboticized for a fee. I mean, after all, surely we could find something valuable for him to have that would keep us off our backs."

"You just don't get it, do ya?" Sonic retorted, now glaring at him too. "The only thing he wants from us is our hides."

"Why is it you can't understand that?" Sonia demanded, adding her own two cents about it. "I'm starting to wonder if you even love me as much as you claim you do."

"Of course I love you, Sonia, my dear." Bartleby objected strongly. "That's why I'm trying to talk some sense into you."

"Talk sense into me?"

"Yes, Sonia," Bartleby explained. "I mean, let's be honest here... going to the war route is only going to lead to casualties, chaos, and maybe even death. We can't possibly beat him with our minimal resources alone."

"We're not beating him alone…" Sally countered. We have a network of Freedom Fighters. And together, I know we can overthrow the Robotnik Empire and restore peace to Mobius."

Bartleby then shocked both of them, as he heartily laughed in front of Sonia and Sally, saying while shaking his head, "Oh, Princess… your strong will and determination was something I admit I deeply liked about you when we met back as kids."

Sonia again frowned at him, as he continued. "But, Sally, you really are fooling yourself if you think this tiny group of yours is going to be able to conquer the mighty Robotnik Empire."

Sonia ironically spoke up first, shouting in disgust, "tiny group?" She then pointed a finger at him, adding, "How dare you say such a thing about the Knothole Freedom Fighters! Have you forgotten they were the ones who destroyed the Doomsday Device?"

"A mere coincidence…" Bartleby replied, abruptly blowing it off. "Nothing more. They just got lucky that time. I'm pretty confident Snively won't let that happen again."

"Oh, is that so?" Sonic now got in his face, saying to him, saying to him sharply "If you really think that's what happened, then you really are a snooty buffoon."

Not surprisingly, Sonia didn't object to insulting him this time, even when Bartleby looked at her to say something in response.

Sally finally added her own two cents, telling the upper class mink with her arms crossed, "Sonic's right. I usually don't defend him when he gets rude and insensitive, but you are ten times worse by downplaying our role to overthrow Robotnik. I can tell you clearly that was a tough battle and it took a special power stone to help us win the day."

By this point, Bartleby realized they were not going to be convinced by his persuasive words. Nevertheless, he gave it one last shot, as he grabbed Sally and Sonia's right hand, telling them with passion in his eyes, "Look, please don't think of me as someone who's a coward and snobby, but I honestly can tell you both that I do care about your wellbeing and only want what's best for you."

"If you really mean that…" Sonia countered, still frowning at him. "Then you'll stick by my side and help me and my new friends fight this war until the bitter end."

Bartleby sadly could not keep her gaze, as her eyes now bore into his like a fire.

Seconds later, he finally sighed in defeat, replying to her softly, "I'm sorry, Sonia, my dear, but I just cannot abide by your terms. I am just not someone who wants to get involved in this whole mess."

"Well, whether you want to admit it or not…" Sally told him, dropping his hand from his grasp, "You are already. By Snively destroying your shelter and learning about your identity, he now is going to be looking for you. Your only chance to come out of this in one piece is to do as Sonia says. I can tell you first hand you will not succeed if you try another method to end the war. There is no other option. We either fight or lose everything dear to us."

Bartleby couldn't deny her words were strong and powerful, even true. Nevertheless, the upper class mink held his ground, saying to squirrel princess, "Well, if that's how you really feel inside, then perhaps I don't belong here then."

Sonia now gasped in deep shock, demanding with her hands at her waist again, "So you're actually going to leave me after everything we've been through together? Is this really how much you really value our relationship?"

"I don't want to leave you, my dear." Bartleby replied softly, looking at her intently. "And I honestly do value our relationship a lot, but since you refuse to listen to me and want to get involved in a bloody war, what else can I do? I'm not going to risk my freedom and ideals over this nonsense just to make you happy. I just can't do it. I just can't… I'm sorry, but I'd be miserable if I even tried."

Sonia's emotional state quickly changed from disgust to heartbreak, as her now eyes filled with tears, saying with a whimper, "I guess you really don't love me after all… You won't even sacrifice a few of your inconveniences for my sake. I can't believe you, Bartleby…"

Bartleby soon felt guilty inside for making her cry, as Sonia turned her head from him and said with a sniffle, "If that's how you really feel deep down, then just go. Go and try to find your place of happiness someplace else…"

"Sonia, please…" Bartleby pleaded, walking over to touch her shoulder "I didn't mean to upse…"

Sonia however wrenched away from his grasp, saying sullenly after interrupting him, still facing away from him, "Leave me be, Bartleby. It's obvious you love yourself more than me. And since you made that point loud and clear, do me a favor and depart already…"

Sonic then spoke up before the upper class mink could respond, saying with his hands at his waist, "You ought to be real proud of yourself, Bartleby. You made my sister cry." He then added with a fierce glare, "You make me sick, man. If I were you, I'd get out of here before I lose my temper."

"Sonic, please…!" Sonia interjected, still in a somber tone of voice, "You're only making the situation worse now."

Not wanting to upset her anymore, Sonic decided to not say another word to him.

As for Bartleby, he finally got the hint and turned to leave, also deeply saddened.

However, before he left to go leave with another group of Freedom Fighters, Bartleby said to Sonia softly, "So long, my love… if you ever change your mind, look me up." He then added after a brief pause, "My heart for now still belongs to you, even if you are crazy enough to get yourself killed over a lost cause."

Sonia was tempted to yell at him again while he walked away, but thought better of it.

Sally meanwhile walked over to the female hedgehog and hugged her with sympathy.

Ironically, the female hedgehog couldn't help but take a glance at her former fiancé as he left over the Princess' shoulder, making her tear up again.

Once he was out of sight, Sonic said to Sonia with empathy, "Sorry bout Bartleby, sis."

Sonia though couldn't even look her brother in the eye, replying with a sniffle while her head was down, "I just can't believe he would actually choose his own pride over me. I thought we actually had a special bond together that we would stick to each other through thick and thin." She then added while shaking her head, "But I guess I was wrong…"

"I know it hurts…" Sally told her, patting her softly on the back. "But, it's his loss, Sonia. He just made one of the biggest mistakes of his life, and I'm almost certain he's going to find that out the hard way."

Surprisingly, Sonic was actually tempted to butt in and disagree with Sally's words about him. However, because he saw how sensitive her sister was in losing Bartleby, he thought better of it.

Not surprisingly though, Sonia wasn't the only one feeling the deep hurt of a dear friend.

Roxy, the diner waitress from the shelter, couldn't help but also feel lost and alone. even though she was happy to be safe from Snively's clutches, the after effect of seeing her business partner roboticized in front of her eyes, deeply traumatized her even now.

An hour after Bartleby left with Southern Freedom Fighters, Sonic saw Roxy standing around with a sad look on her face. He knew what she was going through.

"It'll be ok, Roxy." He said trying to comfort her. "We'll get Bert back someday."

It didn't make the raccoon waitress feel that much better to hear his comforting words, but she appreciated his concern for her wellbeing nonetheless.

"Thanks for being so sweet." Roxy said to him softly. "If you weren't taken, I'd kiss you on the cheek."

Sonic then smiled and asked her, "How would you like to be Knothole's official vendor?"

"Really?"

"Yea, really." The blue hedgehog replied. "I know how much you love cooking, so why not do it for us?"

Roxy was very flattered by his offer, but replied nonetheless, "Even I do take you up on your offer, there aren't many of you here. Plus, how am I going get the contents?"

"Now don't you worry your pretty little head over that…" Wes Weasley replied, walking up to them. "You just leave that to me."

"You know where to get more food supplies?" Roxy inquired of him.

"But of course." The weasel salesmen explained with confidence. "After all, I have inner connections."

"Ok, what's the catch, Wes?" Sonic asked with deep suspicion. "This isn't like you at all."

"Palsy, after saving my life from Snively, I'm turning over a new leaf."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, trust me, Sonic."

"What do you want in exchange then?" Sonic interrogated firmly.

"The only thing I want in return is protection, along with free room and board."

Sonic now pondered this over carefully, soon inquired further, "Just curious, how you gonna get us supplies anyway?"

"Easy, palsy," Wes told him. "I have connections with Mobians from the black market. And when I say black market, I mean those against the Robotnik Empire."

"So, what you're saying is basically you're going help us get food and weapons off of the black market in exchange for us letting you live here?"

"Exactly, palsy."

Sonic didn't have to think this over for long, replying with a hand shake, "All right, Wes, you've got yourself a deal."

"Excellent. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to set up shop."

And with that statement, he quickly ran off.

Sonic meanwhile turned back to the raccoon waitress, and said, "Anyway, I need to talk with Sal now. See you later."

Roxy waved at him as he begin to leave, where he soon added after turning back to look at her, "If you ever need any help or someone to talk to, don't hesitate to ask."

"I'll be sure to do that." The raccoon waitress replied with a nod.

She then sighed deeply, thinking to herself, He's such a sweetie. Sally's so lucky to have him.

Meanwhile, Bunnie went to see Vanilla and Cream to check on how they were doing. Not surprisingly, Cream was still deeply upset over Big's roboticization. So much in fact, the young rabbit didn't even want to look at Bunnie when she came walking towards them.

"Hey there." The cyborg rabbit greeted softly, waving her nonmetal hand at them "How y'all doing?"

Cream even now turned her head away and wouldn't acknowledge Bunnie at all, making her sad inside.

Vanilla though spoke up, replying with a heavy sigh, "As well as can be expected I guess…"

Bunnie then tried to comfort the young rabbit about her pain, saying softly while getting down on one knee, "Sugarcube, please don't angry with me. I know you're really hurting inside about losing Big, and I don't blame you at all. I feel really bad about it myself."

But again, Cream still wouldn't turn around. She instead just sniffled with her head down, crying a bit inside.

In spite of this, Bunnie wouldn't give up trying to make amends, telling her after a brief pause, "Listen, I know what it's like to lose something you value dearly in life. I've felt that pain and bitterness you're going through now."

When Cream still wouldn't turn around or say anything in response, Vanilla soon spoke up, saying, "Honey, please don't keep ignoring her. This young girl is reaching out to you and trying to help."

Wanting to please her mother somewhat, Cream finally responded with her head still turned, demanding with another loud sniffle, "What do you possibly know about pain? You never lost anyone that you shared a special bond with…"

"Oh, but I do, Sugarcube." Bunnie replied, trying not to be insulted by her harsh words. "I not only lost my family, but something almost as valuable as well too…"

"Like what?" Cream inquired, now softening up a bit inside.

Bunnie at first hesitated to say it, but told her after a long pause, "I lost part of my body to the roboticizer…"

Hearing that quickly got the young rabbit's attention, as she now turned around to look at Bunnie.

"You see…" Bunnie explained a bit sullenly. "While I may still have my freedom and mind, I have to deal everyday with the fact I'm not full flesh and fur, but part metal."

The cyborg rabbit then added, now with a tear in her own eye, "And I can personally tell you from my own personal experience, that on top of losing my family, it hurts so much to wake up every morning and be constantly reminded of the fact I was a victim of that horrid machine."

By this point, Cream completely dropped her guard, as she now felt terrible inside for shunning Bunnie earlier.

"So, believe me, Sugarcube…" Bunnie said after another brief pause. "I know what it's like to feel pain. It begins to eat at you to the point that you could lose your sanity over it if you're not careful…"

Cream's eyes now filled with tears completely, as she rushed over to hug the cyborg rabbit tightly, saying with remorse, "I'm so sorry for being mean to your earlier… please forgive me."

Bunnie though didn't hold it against her, replying with a warm smile, "It's ok, honey. I understand completely."

Vanilla was deeply impressed with how Bunnie had handled the situation, as she soon joined them in their embrace.

Cream then said to show her gratitude from earlier, "Thank you for risking your life to save us. I don't know how I could ever repay you."

"You already have, Sugarcube." Bunnie replied, still smiling warmly at her, again with a tear in her eye. "You already have…"

After the three rabbits let go, Vanilla said to the cyborg rabbit, "I know we may not be able to contribute much, but I want you to know that we'll do what we can to help the cause."

"I would appreciate that very much, Miss Vanilla." Bunnie responded.

The cyborg rabbit then said to them, "Listen, I want you and your daughter to stay in my hut with me until we can build you one for the two of you."

"You're too kind." Vanilla commented, deeply overwhelmed. "We insist you let us help with the construction.

"Consider it done." Bunnie replied with a nod.

And with that statement, the three of them had another group hug.

Deep down, the cyborg rabbit now felt very happy inside she was able to bring some form of joy and comfort to them.

Back in Sally's hut, Sonic told Sally of Wes Weasley's black market knowledge.

"Really? He can get us supplies from there?" she inquired with curiosity.

"That's right, Sal."

Sally soon pondered this over intently, commenting with intrigue, "Hmmm. You know, that just might really come in really handy now that I think about it."

"I thought you might like it." Sonic commented with a smirk.

After a few seconds of silence, he asked Sally, "So what positions are you gonna assign Manic and Sonia as part of the Freedom Fighters now?"

"Well, I haven't decided yet," the squirrel princess answered, "but I'm going to put them through some drills first and see what their strengths are."

"Sounds good to me, Sal."

"Anyway, I need to talk with Nicole and strategize for our next mission." Sally explained. "No telling how soon it will be before we hear from Snively again."

"Yea, I so cannot wait to get back in the battle to ruffle his feathers some more." the blue hedgehog commented firmly, slightly punching his fist together.

A couple of hours later, Sonic now saw his siblings sitting down next to tree, with their heads down.

"You guys ok? He asked them

"Yea, I guess so." Sonia answered sadly

"Still feeling sad about Bartleby I take it…"

Sonia quickly gave him a dirty look, replying sharply, "What do you think?"

Deciding not to push it any further, the blue hedgehog asked his brother, "So, what's got you down in the dumps then?"

"It's just that, we've lost so much in this one battle." Manic explained softly. "Even our foster parents were roboticized."

"Oh."

"And I hate to say it, but we're even starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by our new responsibilities here." Sonia added. "Neither of us had any idea being a Freedom Fighter is such a difficult job."

The female hedgehog then commented with a heavy sigh, "Maybe Manic and I don't have what it takes to do this job."

Sonic however looked them in the eye with compassion and replied with a confident smile, "Trust me, sibs, after watching you in battle, you guys definitely have it what it takes to make a major impact for us."

As the two hedgehogs pondered this over, the blue hedgehog told them, "The important thing to remember is never let the trials of this job get to you. It'll drive you crazy if you dwell on it for too long."

"Boy, is that the sad truth…" Sonia commented somberly

"Anyway…" Sonic said, pausing for a second, "No matter what happens, you're both way past cool in my book, and I don't want you to ever forget that. You hear me?"

Once they heard that, Manic and Sonia's mood brightened somewhat

"Thanks for the pep talk, Sonic." Sonia said, standing up to hug him tightly. "I couldn't ask for a better brother."

"Anytime, sis."

"There's still one thing that's bothering me though." Manic commented.

"What's that?" Sonic asked.

"Well, since our recent battle with Snively," the green hedgehog explained, "We both lost something of value to us."

"Really?"

Sonia soon spoke up again, adding, "My personal piano that Lady Windimere gave me for my thirteenth birthday was destroyed in the raid."

"I see…"

"Not to mention my board was wrecked in Robotropolis." Manic said, "I'm not nearly as effective for the group without it."

After pondering this over, Sonic told them with a snap of his finger, "Not to worry, sibs, I'll have that situation remedied before ya know it."

"How are you gonna do that?" Sonia asked with curiosity.

"Sorry, but it's a surprise." Sonic replied with a grin. "But I can assure you it'll be one you really like."

The blue hedgehog then added, "Anyway, I gotta get go see Uncle Chuck for a sec, talk to you guys later."

And with that statement, Sonic sped off.

Manic soon asked scratching his forehead, "What's that crazy bro of ours up to anyway?"

"Guess we'll find out soon enough." Sonia replied.

Three days later, Sonic ran up to his siblings and greeted them. "Hey, guys…"

"Hello, Sonic. What's up?" Sonia asked.

"The surprise is ready, sis"

"Really, what is it?"

"Can't tell ya, Manic man, but I'll take you to it right now if you like."

"Sounds good." The green hedgehog commented with a smile. "Take us to it."

Sonic then quickly stood behind them and put blindfolds over their eyes.

"Sonic, what are you doing?" Sonia asked annoyed.

"Hey, c'mon now, you wouldn't want to spoil it now, would ya?"

"I guess not." She muttered. "Ok, lead the way."

Sonic then led them by the hand and escorted them to his hut.

Once they stepped inside, the blue hedgehog said to this siblings, "Ok, you can take off your blind folds now."

After they did so, there they saw Sonic's big surprise. In front of them stood a brand new electric piano, and a new hover board.

"Surprise!" Sonic shouted.

Manic and Sonia gasped in awe. "Oh my goodness, you did all of this for us? But how?"

"I asked Rotor and Uncle Chuck to build them for you." Sonic explained. "After all, it was the least we could do after everything you've gone through."

Sonia quickly hugged her brother and said, "Thank you so much."

"Yea, you rock, bro." Manic added, giving him a high five.

"And check this out." Sonic said, showing them the hover board more closely. "It's wider and even has a more powerful motor inside so you can go twice as fast now."

"Whoa, that is so cool!" the green hedgehog exclaimed. "I so cannot wait to take this baby out to Robotropolis and kick old needle nose, right where it hurts!"

"You'll get your chance soon enough, bro." Sonic replied with a pat on the back and a sly chuckle, "You can count on that…

Meanwhile, back in Robotropolis, Snively soon got a full damage report from his recent battle with the Freedom Fighters while in his former Uncle Julian's chair.

As he thought, it was a lot higher than expected.

He soon muttered to himself while shaking his head, "Unbelievable… three wrecked roboticizing chambers, one destroyed Mega Swatbot, dozens of standard Swatbots obliterated to scrap metal… just nothing short of a complete mess!"

While the small dictator had been able to roboticize more than half of the underground shelter residents from the East after his raid, it wasn't even close to satisfying him.

"I can roboticize a millions wretched rodents," Snively stated angrily, "But if not one of them is that miserable hedgehog or any his troublemaking friends, then what's the point?"

He then banged his right arm rest several times between small pauses, declaring loudly, "If it's the last I do, I will strike a direct blow to their group and weaken them, even if it's only a minor member of theirs, I WILL conquer those despicable rodents one way or another!"

After banging on the armrest a half dozen times, Snively finally got out of his chair to take a small walk while brooding. Not to mention his right hand was a bit sore as well.

During his walk around the building, he soon remembered Sally had tried to use Nicole to hack his computer.

He then said to himself, "I wonder what that Princess was trying to do to my computer anyway… Well, whatever it was, it had to be something big for her to try and do some major damage to my main network."

Deciding to take no chances, Snively immediately checked the main hard drive of computer, and it was there he discovered the file Sally had Nicole transfer to one of his main folders.

"Hmm… so they were trying to activate this .exe file, eh?" After pondering it over, Snively said to himself with a hand under his chin, "You know, for some reason I feel I've dealt with this kind of program somewhere before…"

A bad feeling soon came over him, making him add, "I think I better play it safe here and get a full report on this so called file of theirs. The last thing I need to do now is overlook something and then pay for it later. I already made that mistake one before…"

And with that statement, Snively gave the file a full diagnosis from another program. Since it was such a thorough program, it took over an hour to complete its task.

After the hour was up, the small dictator studied the charts he had now received from it.

At first glance, he saw nothing that he could point his finger on.

"Hmm… looks like an ordinary program file from the looks of these diagrams."

However, when he saw the frequency patterns of the program file a couple of pages later, it left him with an eerie chill inside.

"Wait just a minute… I recognize these wave patterns. They're…"

Snively though didn't finish that thought, as he soon rummaged through some old papers he had kept over the years.

Once he did a comparison by comparison study, Snively knew exactly what he was dealing with.

"Ah ha! Just as I thought…" the small dictator commented with a frown. "So, that file wasn't completely eradicated after all… Somehow, those wretched rodents recently got a copy of this deadly virus from Jules and Bernadette hedgehog and tried to use it against me."

Snively soon took a deep sigh of relief, as he realized he had indeed dodged a bullet there when he took over Sir Charles' robotic programming to stop Sally from activating the program.

He then added with a sly grin, "Well, if these filthy Mobians want to try and wreck my network, then maybe I should let them, but with a twist they'll never see coming…"

The small dictator now began to chuckle heartily inside, now plotting his next devious move.

"When those rodents dare to show their faces in my city again, it'll be an experience they won't soon forget."

And with that statement, Snively laughed heartily inside.

What this madman had planned for our heroes was now anyone's guess, but one thing was for sure… it would not be anything pleasant.

The End?


End file.
